Re: Specifications for username

[Shyamal Prasad <shyamal.prasad@sbcglobal.net>]

    "Johann" == Johann Spies <jspies@sun.ac.za> writes:

    Johann> My manager wants to know what is allowed and what not when
    Johann> choosing a linux username.

    Johann> I know it must be lowercase, not have spaces or special
    Johann> characters, but I don't know where it is documented.

    Johann> Any reference to documentation that specify this?

Look in the manpage for adduser under the --force-badname option.

  By default, user and group names are required to consist of a
  lowercase letter followed by zero or more lowercase letters or
  numbers. Dashes in the username are accepted as well.  This option
  forces adduser and addgroup to be more lenient.

While this defines what adduser considers a bad name, it might provide
you a start.

Cheers!
Shyamal