Re: Help: Replacing linuxconf user group & startup services

[Chris Gray <cgray@tribsoft.com>]

On Fri, Oct 20, 2000 at 03:41:08PM +0200, Jonathan Gift wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I was told recently that real men don't use linuxconf. Well, since I don't
> want to want to fool around with something so fundemental as my masculinity,
> I figure I had better try without. I've a new install anyway and I was only
> using linuxconf for two things:
> 
> 1. To change my default group from jgift to users
> 2. To Switch off unneeded services
> 
> How can I do this from the console then?
> 
> I used: adduser jgift users
> 
> But I figure this just added me to the group and didn't make jgift's default
> group users as I want.

You might have to change the /etc/passwd file to do this, just change
the fourth field to 100 on the line that starts with your username.
However, you can see the adduser manpage for info on how to do it more
cleanly in the future.

> As for the services, does it really mean poking around the init file hoping
> to get lucky?

Kind of.  Debian init files are usually pretty standardized.  For
instance to stop junkbuster, I could say

# /etc/init.d/junkbuster stop

Or to stop gpm, I could say

# /etc/init.d/gpm stop

Seeing the pattern?  If I didn't want the services to run ever, I would
either remove them, e.g.

# dpkg --purge xdm

or add an "exit 0" to the top of their init.d script after the initial
#!/bin/sh.

Hope this helps,
Chris

-- 
IF I HAD A MINE SHAFT, I don't think I would just abandon it.  There's
got to be a better way.
		-- Jack Handley, The New Mexican, 1988.