Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!think!barmar
From: barmar@think.COM (Barry Margolin)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: Workstations:  good reasons for owner root access
Message-ID: <25952@think.UUCP>
Date: 17 Aug 88 16:23:53 GMT
References: <8338@smoke.ARPA> <2757@bgsuvax.UUCP> <183@ndc.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@think.UUCP
Reply-To: barmar@kulla.think.com.UUCP (Barry Margolin)
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 20

In article <183@ndc.UUCP> sgf@ndc.UUCP (Fishman) writes:
>I work on a diskless microVAX 2000, so I don't do my own system 
>administration, but I occasionally _must_ have su privledge (sp?).
>That happens when my system must be rebooted, so I have to do a
>shutdown.

Why not just make shutdown setuid root, and executable only by a group
of which you are the sole member?

These are the kinds of tools someone was referring to when he said
that in a well-designed system you should rarely need to use "su".
"su" should only be for unusual circumstances.  Users shutting down
their workstations is not unusual, so there should be a standard tool
for it.

Barry Margolin
Thinking Machines Corp.

barmar@think.com
{uunet,harvard}!think!barmar