[Adduser-devel] Rewriting adduser

[Brian M. Carlson]

I am starting a rewrite of adduser.  Some things that should be noted
about this rewrite:

* It is in C++.
* It is currently very preliminary.
* It does not use the useradd/groupadd series of programs; instead it
  rewrites the files on its own.[0]
* It contains a "test" mode, where it writes files into the current
  directory, instead of in system locations.  This is to aid in
  generation of a testsuite.
* It is under the GNU General Public License, as published by the Free
  Software Foundation; version 2 of the License, dated June 1991.

Some goals I have for this rewrite (in order of expected completion):

* To make the software fully functional.
* To make the code command-line compatible with the current adduser.
* To create a testsuite.
* To support internationalization.
* To add code to support LDAP/NIS/other backends and update the
  testsuite accordingly.
* To maximize portability.
* To create a plugin system, if this is desired functionality.
* To support the software, keeping in mind that I am a student and also
  that there is ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by
  applicable law.

Some things that are not goals:

* To rewrite in Perl.  My object-oriented Perl is lacking.
* To autoconfiscate.  I hate that series of tools.

If you are interested in my rewrite, please let me know.  I will check
the code in to my bazaar repository[1] once I get a general feel for
what reactions are like[2].  I am subscribed to the list.

If you want to see the code before making up your mind, then you may
find a copy here (please be gentle on my server):
http://crustytoothpaste.ath.cx/%7ebmc/files/free/adduser.tar.bz2 and
http://crustytoothpaste.ath.cx/%7ebmc/files/free/adduser.tar.bz2.sig

Thank you for your consideration.

[0] Yes, I am sure this makes you very nervous.
[1] I will be happy to produce tarballs both now and later, so do not
expect this to be a problem.  The repository is signed with this OpenPGP
key.
[2] How I check the code in depends on whether it is expected to be used
by Debian.
-- 
($_,$a)=split/\t/,join'',map{unpack'u',$_}<DATA>;eval$a;print;__DATA__
M961H<F$@8FAM;"!U<F%O<G-U(#QU<F%O<G-U0&=D:75M<&UC8VUL=G)U;6LN
M<FUL+F=Y/@H)>2QA8F-D969G:&EJ:VQM;F]P<7)S='5V=WAY>BQN=V]R8FMC
5:75Q96AT9V1Y>F%L=G-P;6IX9BP)

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