bad customers and court cases - summary

Fri Jan 31 07:40:02 PST 2003

On Fri, Jan 31, 2003 at 03:37:32AM -0800, alvin at maggie.linux-consulting.com wrote:

> hi all

> thanx to those that replied ...  but...
> 	- question still stands... though i/we know the answer
> 	( how long does it take you to log into a box that you're sitting
> 	( in front of... and have permission to change its root passwd

 On a bad day: 5 minutes.  (About one step every 30 seconds but most
 of the time is waiting for the BIOS to get me to the LILO prompt).

> jim>  LILO: type <stanza label> init=/bin/sh rw
> jim>  mount /usr # ignore errors if /usr not sep. fs
> jim>  passwd
> jim>  <type new passwd>
> jim>  <type new passwd again>
> jim>  sync
> jim>  umount /usr # ignore error
> jim>  mount -o remount,ro /
> jim>  exec /sbin/init 6
> 
> we're assuming they know how to get into single user mode.... at lilo
> prompt ... that is probably the screwup ....
> 	- in redhat... once in single user... 
> 	just use passwd  .. <type new passwd> .. <veriy it>

 Actually "single" is the wrong answer for many cases.  Many Linux
 distributions have an sulogin program and will require the root
 password in order to log into single user mode.

 My directions have been battle tested on the Internet for several 
 years.  They've been refined, even updated for GRUB (which I omitted
 from my summary as irrelevant to Alvin's case).  EVERY STEP IS THERE 
 FOR A REASON!

> bill> But for the most part, I find I have to agree with your analysis.
> bill> If Alvin met a set of *written* objectives and didn't get paid, then
> bill> I hope he wins.  But I get the impression that is not the case, and
> bill> he's likely to be laughed out of court if not countersued.  But
> bill> IANAL.

--
Jim Dennis 