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Date:      Mon, 22 Dec 2003 18:30:31 -0800 (PST)
From:      Viktor Lazlo <viktorlazlo@telus.net>
To:        Bill Moran <wmoran@potentialtech.com>
Cc:        chat@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: More trivia: origin of the wheel group
Message-ID:  <20031222182338.V1760@d66-183-123-52.bchsia.telus.net>
In-Reply-To: <3FE50C2A.80009@potentialtech.com>
References:  <Pine.BSF.4.44.0312201820100.7377-100000@s1.stradamotorsports.com> <3FE50C2A.80009@potentialtech.com>

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On Sat, 20 Dec 2003, Bill Moran wrote:

> Jason C. Wells wrote:
> > On Sat, 20 Dec 2003, Bill Moran wrote:
> >
> >>Does anyone know why the wheel group is called "wheel"?  I mean, why not
> >>"admins" or something like that.  "wheel" certainly is a cryptic name for
> >>the administrators group.  Anyone have any idea why it's called "wheel"?
> >
> > The guy who wrote the group functionality was both a buddhist and a
> > Journey fan.  He was listening to "Wheel in the Sky" while trying to
> > figure out a way to give more people administrative rights without giving
> > too much access.  In a fit of enlightment, he came up with a special group
> > for administrators.  Since they were the ones who kept things turning, it
> > only seemed appropriate that "wheel" be immortalized in the /etc/group
> > file.
> >
> > True story!
>
> Go on ... pull the other one!

Heh-not quite sure about that, the version I was told which is somewhat
less colourful is that the members of this group were the "big wheels" on
the system, secondary only to root itself.  But that in itself sounds
something like backformation to explain the name . . .

Cheers,

Viktor



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