Login procedure on UNIX (any difference between root & user)

[Tommy Hsieh]

I have a question about login procedure.  Is there any difference between
login as root and login as a normal user (a user from yellow page).

I found a strange thing happened on one of our machines.  If I login as
root, it gives me the prompt right after the /etc/motd message.  But if I
login as normal user, it gives me the /etc/motd message and then I have to
wait one or two minutes to get the prompt.  I have home directory on that
machine and all the machines are running yp.  The machine which has
problem is a sparc station.  Any idea ?  Thanks in advance.

    Tommy Hsieh
    (408) 987-5285
                  
    mail address :
      yhsieh at cadence.com
      ...!{versatc,apollo,ucbcad,uunet}!cadence!yhsieh