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Date:      Fri, 19 Jan 2001 23:56:16 +0200
From:      Peter Pentchev <roam@orbitel.bg>
To:        Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com>
Cc:        Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com>, Will Andrews <will@physics.purdue.edu>, arch@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: no newgroup/newgrp in FreeBSD?
Message-ID:  <20010119235616.A49279@ringworld.oblivion.bg>
In-Reply-To: <200101191743.KAA10770@usr08.primenet.com>; from tlambert@primenet.com on Fri, Jan 19, 2001 at 05:42:55PM %2B0000
References:  <3A6728FB.76E7C687@softweyr.com> <200101191743.KAA10770@usr08.primenet.com>

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On Fri, Jan 19, 2001 at 05:42:55PM +0000, Terry Lambert wrote:
> > > Sorry for being ignorant, but what's the difference between this and the
> > > pw(8) group operations?
> > 
> > System V only holds one GID per process.  The newgrp command changes the
> > active GID to another group by starting a new shell with the GID specified
> > on the newgrp command line.  You have to be a member of the group or know
> > the group password.  Since BSD uses a list of group memberships, newgrp
> > is not needed.
> 
> Actually, it could be useful.
> 
> In SVR4, the most powerful effect is that newgrp permits you
> to obtain membership in a group without explicit configuration,
> so long as there is communication of the password to you.
> 
> Specifically, it allows adjunct group membership, through
> knowledge of a password.  The BSD method grants membership
> in groups explicitly.
> 
> As an example, consider membership in group "wheel".  To
> be able to "su", you must have two things: membership in
> group "wheel", and the "root" password.
[snip]

Hmm.. good points.  The 1.0.1 version of my newgrp(1) implementation,
at http://ringwraith.online.bg/~roam/devel/sysutils/newgrp-1.0.1.tar.gz
allows the users to change to a group they are not members of, if that
group is password-protected.  It also restricts access to groups users
*are* members of, if those are password-protected.  Both those items
are controlled by compile-time defines.

G'luck,
Peter

-- 
I've heard that this sentence is a rumor.


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