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Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!msuinfo!uwm.edu!news.alpha.net!news.mathworks.com!yeshua.marcam.com!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!psgrain!rainrgnews0!news.teleport.com!news.teleport.com!not-for-mail From: bmk@teleport.com (bmk) Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.questions Subject: Re: Why can't I su to root? Date: 15 Nov 1994 05:33:38 -0800 Organization: Department of Redundancy Department Lines: 29 Distribution: usa Message-ID: <3aadbi$863@linda.teleport.com> References: <39rpt8$iva@news.CCIT.Arizona.EDU> <kargl-1111941013490001@spleen.apl.washington.edu> <CzAF0n.4nE@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl> Reply-To: bmk@teleport.com NNTP-Posting-Host: linda.teleport.com In article <CzAF0n.4nE@dutiws.twi.tudelft.nl>, Jan de Jongh <dejongh@overdrive.cpr.nl> wrote: >In article <kargl-1111941013490001@spleen.apl.washington.edu>, kargl@apl.washington.edu (Steven G. Kargl) writes: >|> >|> Wrong. You need to edit /etc/group and add your login name >|> to wheel's group. > >Why is that necessary? The user should be added to the group It's necessary because that's how it works. :) The GID specified in /etc/passwd sets your effective GID in core. su checks the /etc/group file for authorization. All of the Unixes that I use do it the same way. >specified in his/her /etc/passwd entry automatically. Or..? >I also noticed that when I specify a valid group there (>0), all >files I create are of group 'wheel', as long as my home-directory is >of group wheel. When I change the group of my homedir to (say) >'rtfm', all files I create are of group 'rtfm'. This cannot be >a coincidence, and it must be a faq... No, it's no coincidence. That's the standard BSD behavior. System V does it differently. -- bmk@dtr.com | WWW: http://www.teleport.com/~bmk/ Portland, OR | http://www.teleport.com/~bmk/patriot.html