[Adduser-devel] Bug#432562: adduser --system allow uppercase in usernames without --force-badname

[Joerg Hoh]

Hi

On Tue, Jul 10, 2007 at 04:22:14PM +0100, Ian Jackson wrote:
> Several packages have started creating system users whose names
> contain uppercase letters.  These names for system users have some
> advantages over normal names, particularly:
>  * It is easy to tell such a system user from a normal user even
>    if it uses a normal-user-range uid and has a per-user group.


System users shouldn't use the normal user range. But in order to use this
range, they have to be created as normal user (but then without capitals).

>  * Mail delivery systems etc. typically won't deliver to such
>    users (because they lowercase the name before lookup)

>  * Most other tools behave properly with usernames containing
>    capitals.

I don't know if some tools may not cope with it.


> Currently packages that create system users with any uppercase letters
> in the name need to pass --force-badname to adduser.  This is not
> ideal; for example, it gives package maintainers the idea that a name
> with a capital letter is not significantly better than one containing
> punctuation, top-bit-set octets, etc.

To be honest: it isn't :-)

> I propose that we relax this restriction.  The attached patch causes
> adduser to allow uppercase letters but only if --system is specified.
> (This is achieved by a separate NAME_REGEX_SYSTEM config option.)
> 
> FYI, this is being deployed in Ubuntu as adduser 3.103ubuntu1.

The first point is the one that counts most (at least in my eyes).

I think the best solution would be to postpone this patch for while and
wait for the experiences which ubuntu will have with it.


Jörg

-- 
What did you do to the cat? It looks half-dead. -Schroedinger's wife
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