Multiple Passwords

[Deron Meranda]

On Thu, 10 Feb 2005 06:02:02 +0000, Michael A. Peters <mpeters at mac.com> wrote:
> > How can i have multiple passwords on single account. and please tell
> > me what possible use could there be to have more than one password to
> > a Linux account?
> 
> I think you can by hand editing the /etc/passwd file to assign the same
> UID to several users - I've never tried it, but I have heard of it.

Yes it works, just choose different usernames but assign them all to
the same uid and gid numbers and home directory.  You'll have to
edit /etc/passwd (or NIS)  manually; or use the adduser command
with the -o option to allow non-unique uids.

Also note that for each username/password, the operation of the
account will appear identical, except:

  * The $LOGNAME environment variable will be set to whichever
    username was used to log in (see the manpage for login(1)).

  * File ownerships (such as if you do ls -l) will appear to be owned
    by the first user in the passwd file with that uid.  If you're using
    NIS it will appear random (do to sorting by hash values).

-- 
Deron Meranda