Username hassles

[Larry Hall (Cygwin)]

Paul Mead wrote:
> "Larry Hall (Cygwin)" <reply-to-list-only-lh@cygwin.com> writes:
> 
>> And the problem is that you want the files installed by Cygwin's "setup.exe"
>> to use "paul" instead of "MEAD8998".  Yeah, that will happen because
>> "setup.exe" is a Windows program and is going to use the Windows SID of
>> the user installing it.  If you prefer "paul" to be used, you need to do
>> one of two things:
>>
>>   1. Remove the "MEAD8998" user from your '/etc/passwd'.  It's presumably
>>      before the "paul" user in the file and has the same SID.
>>
>>   2. "chmod -R paul / /usr/bin /usr/lib"
>>
>> If "MEAD8998" and "paul" exist in your '/etc/passwd' file and share the
>> same SID, use (1).  Otherwise, use (2).
> I seem to have 'MEAD8998' and not 'paul'. And I'm guessing that your
> option 2 would have do be done more than once, as it doesn't change how
> setup.exe is installing files.

'setup.exe' installs files with the user name of the user that invoked
'setup.exe' so depending on who you update your Cygwin installation as,
you may need to do this again.  Obviously, it would be preferable to do
the updates as the same user as you want to "own" the files. ;-)

> In that case, it would probably be better all round if I use MEAD8998
> throughout and drop 'paul', at least on that machine.
> 
> So, I've tried to find where the user 'paul' is coming from and can't
> find anywhere to change that either. Where is the current username held,
> and how can I change it?

Cygwin gets user names from the '/etc/passwd' file.

Perhaps you have a local user 'paul' on your machine?

-- 
Larry Hall                              http://www.rfk.com
RFK Partners, Inc.                      (508) 893-9779 - RFK Office
216 Dalton Rd.                          (508) 893-9889 - FAX
Holliston, MA 01746

_____________________________________________________________________

A: Yes.
 > Q: Are you sure?
 >> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
 >>> Q: Why is top posting annoying in email?

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