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X-Authentication-Warning:	slinky.cs.nyu.edu: pechtcha owned process doing -bs
Date:	Mon, 30 Jun 2003 16:22:54 -0400 (EDT)
From:	Igor Pechtchanski <pechtcha AT cs DOT nyu DOT edu>
Reply-To:	cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
To:	Jeff Cramlet <JLC AT compuserve DOT com>
cc:	cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Subject:	Re: entries in /etc/passwd
In-Reply-To:	<200306301614_MC3-1-3FEE-38C2@compuserve.com>
Message-ID:	<Pine.GSO.4.44.0306301619320.8635-100000@slinky.cs.nyu.edu>
Importance:	Normal
MIME-Version:	1.0

On Mon, 30 Jun 2003, Jeff Cramlet wrote:

> When installing cygwin, the following accounts get included in the
> /etc/passwd file, and I am a bit curious about them:
>
> Everyone:*:0:0:,S-1-1-0::
> SYSTEM:*:18:18:,S-1-5-18::
>
> Why are they created, and what are the side effects of removing them from
> /etc/passwd?  I looked around in the FAQ's, and could not find anything on
> this.
>
> Thanks in advance for the assist!

Jeff,

"Everyone" is a group.  Windows allows for files to be owned by groups,
which are then treated as users.  The side effect of removing this entry
from /etc/passwd is that you won't be able to get correct access to files
owned by the "Everyone" group from Cygwin tools.

"SYSTEM" is the Cygwin name for a built-in Windows account used to run
services (a.k.a. "LocalSystem").  Removing it from /etc/passwd will result
in being unable to setup services (such as sshd, inetd, cron, etc.).

For more information, read <http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/ntsec.html>.
	Igor
-- 
				http://cs.nyu.edu/~pechtcha/
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ZZZzz /,`.-'`'    -.  ;-;;,_		igor AT watson DOT ibm DOT com
     |,4-  ) )-,_. ,\ (  `'-'		Igor Pechtchanski, Ph.D.
    '---''(_/--'  `-'\_) fL	a.k.a JaguaR-R-R-r-r-r-.-.-.  Meow!

"I have since come to realize that being between your mentor and his route
to the bathroom is a major career booster."  -- Patrick Naughton


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