Problem with uucp login with SCO XENIX 2.3.1

[Mark J. Bailey]

In article <439 at acheron.UUCP>, clarke at acheron.UUCP (Ed Clarke) writes:
> From article <397 at mjbtn.MFEE.TN.US>, by root at mjbtn.MFEE.TN.US (Mark J. Bailey):
> > (an arbitrary location, of course).  I also modified the files in 
> > /usr/lib/mkuser/uucp to have all future uucp logins created in the new
> > spot.  Once again, all is well with my uucp world. :-)  I will add that
> > the SCO login does not allow logins of userids that have no existing home
> 
> I don't understand why you want to give uucp logins a private home
> directory.  All of my uucp logins have "/usr/spool/uucppublic" as
> their home directory.  This shouldn't cause any problems as far as
> I can see.  Am I missing something?

The issue I am concerned with is not the home directories for uucp logins.
I know that that really is trivial.  The problem was that "as shipped" from
SCO, 2.3.[01] with HDB, had a mkuser setup to create uucp-user home dirs in
/usr/spool/uucp as has been the case for 2.2.x xenix versions.  Under Version 2
uucp it wasn't a problem, ever.  But under HDB UUCP, the uudemon.clean
script would wipe out those home dirs STILL created in /usr/spool/uucp by
the mkuser command.  For me, it is easy enough to change that to somewhere
else.  uucppublic is a perfect place, however, I have a lot of uucp logins
(I prefer a login for every site calling for login record's sake - call it
a weakness :-) ), and I simply preferred avoiding the clutter of a slew of
empty directories (I use PUBDIR as a pass thur in my local unix network and 
wanted to keep it free except for traffic).

But to get back to my main point, a virgining user, or one who just wants
the machine to work within the frame of what is described in the docs, doesn't
and shouldn't have to worry about the mkuser command (which IS a convenient
way to create uucp logins!) choosing a spot for the uucp login home dir.
Not everyone is blessed with instinctive System Administrator qualities such
that they ever get around to learning about home directories, etc.

I am simply stating that my release, and a client's, were SHIPPED that way,
and it was a problem. The solution was to edit /usr/lib/mkuser/uucp/mkuser.defs
and set the home directory to PUBDIR (or wherever).  I am just saying that
many xenix users never would have picked up on that as they simply DON'T
WANT to know that much detail.  

I just felt it needed to be pointed out.  I think they are up to 2.3.2, so
it may be fixed by now.

Mark.

-- 
Mark J. Bailey                                    "Y'all com bak naw, ya hear!"
USMAIL: 511 Memorial Blvd., Murfreesboro, TN 37129 ___________________________
VOICE:  +1 615 893 0098                            |         JobSoft
UUCP:   ...!{ames,mit-eddie}!killer!mjbtn!mjb      | Design & Development Co.
DOMAIN: mjb at mjbtn.MFEE.TN.US                       |  Murfreesboro, TN  USA