Tim wrote:
On Mon, 2007-08-27 at 21:55 +0100, Alan Cox wrote:
The passwd file isn't considered secret in any way. Its public
readable data. The /etc/shadow file holds passwords and is root only.
I thought that's only because we, now, have passwords stored in another
location. It used to contain passwords. Maybe it still does with some
distros.
If any distribution still does it, that distribution needs to change
their defaults. Its been a long time since /etc/password contained any
passwords.
There is nothing wrong with any program reading it and several do so in
a routine manner including pidgin.
Rahul
