can't su as user

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Author: Jasonjkenner@mindspring.com
Date:  
Subject: can't su as user
Bucky Goldstein wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I've just installed a distro that defaults to not letting users su
>
> I've added my user account to wheel in /etc/groups and created a group
> named wheel in /etc/passwords
> then put yes behind SU_WHEEL_ONLY yes in /etc/login.defs
>
> Still no su
>
> Does anybody know how I can get su to work?


What su are you using???

--


Why GNU su does not support the wheel group (by Richard Stallman)
Sometimes a few of the users try to hold total power over all the
rest. For example, in 1984, a few users at the MIT AI lab decided to
seize power by changing the operator password on the Twenex
system and keeping it secret from everyone else. (I was able to
thwart this coup and give power back to the users by patching the
kernel, but I wouldn't know how to do that in Unix.)

However, occasionally the rulers do tell someone. Under the usual su
mechanism, once someone learns the root password who sympathizes with
the ordinary users, he can tell the rest. The "wheel group" feature
would make this impossible, and thus cement the power of the rulers.
I'm on the side of the masses, not that of the rulers. If you
are used to supporting the bosses and sysadmins in whatever they do,
you might find this idea strange at first.



-- 
jkenner @ mindspring . com__
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