[H-GEN] Redhat 9 usernames

[Robert Brockway]

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On Tue, 16 Sep 2003, Tony Melia (DMS) wrote:

> I notice redhat 9 rejects usernames with punctuation in usernames, both from
> the commandline and gui tools when setting up new users.  I can fix this by
> editing /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow later by adding a period to make it
> firstname.surname, which is they way I prefer it to be.

I'd really recommend against usernames like this in unix.  They are
annoying to type and superflous (imho).  I think a shorter derivation of
the user's name is preferable.  For email addresses, use aliases to
produce the firname.lastname format.

In addition, there is a "rule"  which says a username should not be more
than 8 chars.  Although you can make usernames longer there is no telling
if some app somewhere will break with longer usernames.

Rob

-- 
Robert Brockway B.Sc. email: robert at timetraveller.org, zzbrock at uqconnect.net
Linux counter project ID #16440 (http://counter.li.org)
"The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens" -Baha'u'llah

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