Baslinux mailing list

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Here's an odd problem I've run into when adding an unpriviledged user to 
BL3 (after having added the passwd.tgz package intended to allow this). 
Perhaps this will shed light on the whole range of problems encountered 
when trying to run BL3 with non-root users.

When I first added my unpriviledged user, and before rebotting the 
computer, I could su to my user all I wanted in an rxvt terminal. It 
worked without a hitch every time I tried it. Didn't even need to enter a 
password for the user. Now that I've rebooted, however, I can't su to my 
user in an rxvt termianl. For one thing when I try, it now asks for a 
password. When I enter the password I get an error message: "cannot set 
groups: operation not permitted." At a certain point I think I also saw an 
error message about pty (Sindi has mentioned previously a need to change 
permissions on pty's in order that an unpriviledged user can operate the 
system).

So, why does this happen? "cannot set groups" probably stems from the 
absence of chgrp in busybox. Is chgrp available as a separate binary in 
Slack4? If it were, would adding it resolve the problem? Would permissions 
on pty's still ned to be changed? Why does it only happen after rebooting 
the system (after the unpriviledged user has been added)?

Things are beginning to look a bit less hopeful with respect to putting 
BL3 on my laptop. According to what we've discussed on this list and what 
I've heard in other places, one should avoid running as root while on the 
WAN. I definitely need to be on the internet with this machine, and that 
with some frequency. If there's not some reasonable way to allow an 
unpriviledged user to go online under BL3, I might need to look for a 
different Linux for this laptop.

Thanks,
James