'ls -n' opens password file for rea

[flint at gistdev.UUCP]

In the "what I'd really like to see" department, would be to get rid of the
one-level username system we have, and go to a hierarchial username system.
(For example, instead of being identified as "joe", a user might be
identified as admin/acct/joe if Joe was in the Administration Department,
Accounting Section of the company.  If there was another Joe doing working
in customer support, he'd be ops/cs/joe (for Operations/Customer Support/Joe)
There would be many passwd files, not just one: and many advantages would
result.  Search time through an excessively long passwd file would be a lot
less, a login name wouldn't have to be unique system-wide, the whole system
wouldn't die if the passwd file got corrupted (you'd be able to switch to
a different group and log in and fix it), etc.

Of course, doing this would create a lot of compatibility problems, but I think
there are probably answers to them.  It would still be useful to have a single
number correspond to a single user.  (to maintain compatibility with the file
system, and also so that a single user could be in multiple groups at once.)