[1566] in SIPB_Linux_Development
xlogin and /etc/gtmp
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Eric Mumpower)
Tue Jan 28 00:50:33 1997
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 00:50:09 -0500
To: linux-dev@MIT.EDU
From: Eric Mumpower <nocturne@MIT.EDU>
I think I've found something which is, at best, a misfeature in the
linux-athena environment.
The pre-existence of an empty file /etc/gtmp will cause xlogin to hang with
no visible explanation midway through its login sequence, apparently because
it's effectively the lockfile for modification of /etc/group.
While reactivate is set up to nuke the gtmp file upon reactivation, I think
there should also be something in rc.athena which performs the appropriate
adjustments to /etc/group and /etc/gtmp so the system is initialized to a
reasonable, immediately usable state. (This behavior crops up when /etc/gtmp
exists, if one either logs in before the machine has a chance to reactivate,
or if the reactivate script has been disabled for some reason or another.)
- Eric
(who just spent several hours trying to debug an inexplicably hanging
xlogin, and discovered the above-described problem)
