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Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 21:10:33 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Re: Minicom for Cygwin
From: "Chris Taylor" <chris AT equate DOT f9 DOT co DOT uk>
To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
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On Thu, June 17, 2004 7:57 pm, Igor Pechtchanski said:
> On Thu, 17 Jun 2004, Xantius wrote:
>
>>
>> I was able to setup a root user on my system.  It was a PITA, but it did
>> work.  There was a howto out there somewhere that I followed.
>> Unfortunatly I can't find it again, so I can't tell you where it was.
>> I'll post it if I find it.
>>
>> Xantius
>
> Well, there are some instructions for setting up a root user at
> <http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/ntsec.html#NTSEC-SIDS>...  However, most
> of the time it's not necessary to be root.  In fact, some programs simply
> check if the current user has UID of 0 (which is wrong in Cygwin for
> several reasons).  Most of the Cygwin ports of programs that do this check
> have it commented out for Cygwin.  For examples, see the sources if
> inetutils, openssh, etc.  Others (e.g., fetchmail, cron, inetutils, login)
> have Cygwin-specific checks for the UID of the SYSTEM user, which is 18 by
> default (though not always).  Yet others (e.g., apache, php) still have
> the original checks of the form "if (geteuid())" here and there, which I
> think is erroneous.  It really depends on the individual packages, but
> most of the time it's better to simply attempt the operation and process
> the error code instead of checking blindly for being root.  If you intend
> to package minicom for Cygwin, I suggest considering very carefully
> whether it's really necessary to check for root.
>
> HTH,
> 	Igor

Agreed. Based on my experience with minicom, and the sole time it actually
needs root, I would say that it is not necessary, as most of the options
you can change as a normal user in windows.. Certainly as a power user or
administrator.

The root requirement is merely for creating the default config, and
possibly other config files, but these can be modified on the fly within
minicom by normal users, unless you restrict it (can't quite remember if
you can.. Will try and check on a 'nix box in a bit)

As a sidenote, I do actually have a root user.. Can't remember how I set
it up either, but it was rather annoying to do..

Chris

-- 
When the universe ends, the Restaurant will bring it back.


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