Re: [exim4debian] Re: Debian-exim - blech!
On Fri, 2004-09-17 at 23:35, Marc Haber wrote:
> > I never did understand: what was the problem with "mail"?
>
> First, installing exim4 would probably re-use the account "mail" which
> might be assigned to a user. This might grant excessive rights to that
> user (for example, access rights to the mail queue).
"mail" is and always has been a standard system account:
mail:x:8:8:mail:/var/mail:/bin/sh
Note the uid of 8 in the system range.
It would therefore be impossible to create a user account called "mail",
because it already exists. If someone is stupid enough to take over the
"mail" account as a private user account, they deserve anything they
get. Debian maintainers are not supposed to pervert the system to cope
with system administrators who are totally incompetent.
Of course your argument applies equally to "Debian-exim" - it might be
assigned to a user; it's quite as likely as that "mail" might be so
assigned.
> Second, purging exim4 in such a situation could lead to all files
> belonging to that user to be deleted.
Purging exim4 should not cause the deletion of the username nor of files
that exim4 did not install.
--
Oliver Elphick olly@lfix.co.uk
Isle of Wight http://www.lfix.co.uk/oliver
GPG: 1024D/A54310EA 92C8 39E7 280E 3631 3F0E 1EC0 5664 7A2F A543 10EA
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"But my God shall supply all your need according to his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19
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