Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id ; Tue, 24 Apr 2001 12:55:50 -0400 Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org id ; Tue, 24 Apr 2001 12:55:40 -0400 Received: from [63.109.146.2] ([63.109.146.2]:30702 "EHLO mail0.myrio.com") by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id ; Tue, 24 Apr 2001 12:55:24 -0400 Message-ID: From: Torrey Hoffman To: "'imel96@trustix.co.id'" Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org Subject: RE: [PATCH] Single user linux Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2001 09:55:14 -0700 MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21) Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org > think about personal devices. something like the nokia communicator. > a system security passwd is acceptable, but that's it. no those- > device-user would like to know about user account, file ownership, > etc. they just want to use it. If you are making a personal device, like an "appliance", there is no need to patch the kernel - at least not to remove the concept of users. Instead, change your startup scripts. In that situation, you will have a custom application that is automatically started at boot and runs with enough privileges to do whatever it needs. The user never sees a login prompt. If you want a Windows-95 style setup for Linux, you can do that too - but don't run as root! Just have the startup scripts auto-login as an unprivileged user. Kernel patches to do this are completely unnecessary, and a bad idea. Permissions are important to have on an appliance-like system, as they can be used to help prevent the end user from accessing the guts of the system which should be off limits for them. - To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/