bug#7572: [PATCH] PAM support for su

[Ludwig Nussel]

Jim Meyering wrote:
> Ludwig Nussel wrote:
> > Jim Meyering wrote:
> >> Ludwig Nussel wrote:
> >> > Are there any concerns with the patch? It would be really nice to
> >> > have this merged upstream to avoid further fragmentation.
> >>
> >> The main concern is that by default coreutils doesn't even build su 
> >> anymore.
> >
> > Does that mean you intend to drop su from coreutils? If so is there
> 
> I would have dropped it long ago but for some distributions
> for which the switch to e.g., util-linux was not an option.

Well, those who prefer a bit rotten su.c could still fetch one from
an old coreutils archive if it's dropped in newer versions :-)

> > any suggested alternative? Should we move su to e.g. util-linux
> > instead?
> 
> It's worth considering.

Ok. I'll ask on the util-linux list then.

> [...]
> >>  - tests would be most welcome, but I won't insist on those
> >
> > Hmm, I'm not sure that's feasible. Tests would need to run as
> > root and they'd likely have to modify /etc/pam.d.
> 
> root-only tests are not a problem.
> There are already quite a few.  For examples,
> see the scripts under tests/ that use "require_root_".
> However, as you imply, if the only way to test is
> by changing the likes of /etc/pam.d, then it's easy:
> automated tests are not an option ;-)

One needs to install two files there to tell pam which modules to
activate. If the system already has them from the distro there might
be a conflict due to different content.

cu
Ludwig

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