Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
Greetings!
Many YouTube reviews on Porteus stress on getting a main user account outside default Root to avoid unrecoverable mistakes and accidents so I've been doing that on several flash drive here via the Guest account. Only thing is now it's far more "me" than guest now so I'd like to rename that account appropriately and also create another "replacement" Guest account just to stay in keeping with Porteus out-of-the-box. My question is, can I safely rename my guest account with my name and create another guest just to have that account available for whatever future reasons?
Thanks for any educating tips!
Jim in NYC
Many YouTube reviews on Porteus stress on getting a main user account outside default Root to avoid unrecoverable mistakes and accidents so I've been doing that on several flash drive here via the Guest account. Only thing is now it's far more "me" than guest now so I'd like to rename that account appropriately and also create another "replacement" Guest account just to stay in keeping with Porteus out-of-the-box. My question is, can I safely rename my guest account with my name and create another guest just to have that account available for whatever future reasons?
Thanks for any educating tips!
Jim in NYC
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Re: Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
Hi jim
some quotes
fanthom
... although guest and root are hardcoded in porteus settings
so i would recommend to stick to one of them.
brokenman
Furthermore, some scripts are hard coded to look for only these two users.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It seems (to me) that you may get more problems than you want to.
some quotes
fanthom
... although guest and root are hardcoded in porteus settings
so i would recommend to stick to one of them.
brokenman
Furthermore, some scripts are hard coded to look for only these two users.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It seems (to me) that you may get more problems than you want to.
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Re: Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
Conclusion. Change the guest password. 

Prendre son temps, profiter de celui qui passe.
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Re: Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
i think its not just porteus, its a general linux practice to not use root by default
guest for use
root for maintenance
if 2-3 people use the pc then they can all use one guest account, no need to create separate users
guest for use
root for maintenance
if 2-3 people use the pc then they can all use one guest account, no need to create separate users
posted from Porteus
Re: Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
Greetings!
As per a Mint maven I used "gentent passwd" to list and check names logged on this (experimental) flash in the listing below. In learning Porteus and Linux, my tinkering created new user accounts via addusers, but the jimwg one doesn't log-in or work as though it has no home like the other accounts:
jimwg
1001
jimwg,,,:/home/jimwg:/bin/bash
Mint mavens say that jimwg here is actually "illegal" and a "dangerous" listing error and could corrupt the whole "users array". (This was the name I intended to replace Guest with before you all convinced me otherwise but I'll just stick between guest and root,) still I'd like to learn how to recover from major faults. I told the mavens that Porteus works different with a main root user and they suggested taking this to you all before I start deleting any accounts. This is an educational experience so I appreciate your input!
Jim in NYC
--------------------------------------
VIA "GENTENT":
root@porteus:~# cat /etc/passwd
root
0:0::/root:/bin/bash
bin
1:1:bin:/bin:/bin/false
daemon
2:2:daemon:/sbin:/bin/false
adm
3:4:adm:/var/log:/bin/false
lp
4:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/bin/false
sync
5:0:sync:/sbin:/bin/sync
shutdown
6:0:shutdown:/sbin:/sbin/shutdown
halt
7:0:halt:/sbin:/sbin/halt
mail
8:12:mail:/:/bin/false
news
9:13:news:/usr/lib/news:/bin/false
uucp
10:14:uucp:/var/spool/uucppublic:/bin/false
operator
11:0:operator:/root:/bin/bash
games
12
games:/usr/games:/bin/false
ftp
14:50::/home/ftp:/bin/false
smmsp
25:25:smmsp:/var/spool/clientmqueue:/bin/false
mysql
27:27:MySQL:/var/lib/mysql:/bin/false
rpc
32:32:RPC portmap user:/:/bin/false
sshd
33:33:sshd:/:/bin/false
gdm
42:42:GDM:/var/state/gdm:/bin/bash
oprofile
51:51:oprofile:/:/bin/false
apache
80:80:User for Apache:/srv/httpd:/bin/false
messagebus
81:81:User for D-BUS:/var/run/dbus:/bin/false
haldaemon
82:82:User for HAL:/var/run/hald:/bin/false
pop
90:90:POP:/:/bin/false
vboxadd
95:95::/home/vboxadd:/bin/bash
nobody
99:99:nobody:/:/bin/false
kdm
102:102::/home/kdm:/bin/bash
avahi
214:214:Avahi:/dev/null:/bin/false
guest
1000:1000::/home/guest:/bin/bash
jimwg
1001
jimwg,,,:/home/jimwg:/bin/bash
amber
1002
,,,:/home/amber:/bin/bash
tiffany
1003
,,,:/home/tiffany:/bin/bash
root@porteus:~# cat /etc/passwd/
cat: /etc/passwd/: Not a directory
As per a Mint maven I used "gentent passwd" to list and check names logged on this (experimental) flash in the listing below. In learning Porteus and Linux, my tinkering created new user accounts via addusers, but the jimwg one doesn't log-in or work as though it has no home like the other accounts:
jimwg


Mint mavens say that jimwg here is actually "illegal" and a "dangerous" listing error and could corrupt the whole "users array". (This was the name I intended to replace Guest with before you all convinced me otherwise but I'll just stick between guest and root,) still I'd like to learn how to recover from major faults. I told the mavens that Porteus works different with a main root user and they suggested taking this to you all before I start deleting any accounts. This is an educational experience so I appreciate your input!
Jim in NYC
--------------------------------------
VIA "GENTENT":
root@porteus:~# cat /etc/passwd
root

bin

daemon

adm

lp

sync

shutdown

halt


news

uucp

operator

games


ftp

smmsp

mysql

rpc

sshd

gdm

oprofile

apache

messagebus

haldaemon

pop

vboxadd

nobody

kdm

avahi

guest

jimwg


amber


tiffany


root@porteus:~# cat /etc/passwd/
cat: /etc/passwd/: Not a directory
Re: Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
...
Last edited by phhpro on 04 Feb 2016, 03:02, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
me personally fine with 2 hardcoded users, its easier this way
posted from Porteus
Re: Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
...
Last edited by phhpro on 04 Feb 2016, 03:03, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
no, i dont like to use root by default, it would give me creeps too
maybe i will give Puppy linux or one of its flavors a shot
switching an os is a lot of a hassle for me, im not geeky enough for all this
maybe i will give Puppy linux or one of its flavors a shot
switching an os is a lot of a hassle for me, im not geeky enough for all this
posted from Porteus
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Re: Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
It should be safe but these steps (+thinking) are required:Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
1. login as root
2. open terminal and execute:
3. adduser jimwg (use default values)
4. mv /home/guest/{*,.*} /home/jimwg
5. chown -R jimwg /home/jimwg
6. cp -a /mnt/live/memory/images/0*/home/guest/. /home/guest
7. login as guest (fresh account)
/home/jimwg (adduser) could be changed. Now you can login as guest or jimwg (no password).
Not enough tested so test it before use.
You have mind and feelings. Be wise and clever.
Re: Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
...
Last edited by phhpro on 04 Feb 2016, 03:04, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
Naive question comes to mind, which is what it would entail to make sub-users of guest, out of curiosity. 

Linux porteus 4.4.0-porteus #3 SMP PREEMPT Sat Jan 23 07:01:55 UTC 2016 i686 AMD Sempron(tm) 140 Processor AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
NVIDIA Corporation C61 [GeForce 6150SE nForce 430] (rev a2) MemTotal: 901760 kB MemFree: 66752 kB
NVIDIA Corporation C61 [GeForce 6150SE nForce 430] (rev a2) MemTotal: 901760 kB MemFree: 66752 kB
Re: Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
In this case, like climbing Everest, I guess!Bogomips wrote:Naive question comes to mind, which is what it would entail to make sub-users of guest, out of curiosity.

Good reply! Thanks!
Jim In NYC
Re: Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
Help.
I changed the guest password from guest to avalon and now the system won't log into guest at all, even using boot-up script menu. I just keep being retuned to the dark blue LOGIN screen. I've since changed the guest pw several times but no cigar. Am I locked out for good?
Jm in NYC
I changed the guest password from guest to avalon and now the system won't log into guest at all, even using boot-up script menu. I just keep being retuned to the dark blue LOGIN screen. I've since changed the guest pw several times but no cigar. Am I locked out for good?
Jm in NYC
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Re: Is it safe to rename Guest and create another Guest?
Login as root and move needed files from guest somewhere else.
You have mind and feelings. Be wise and clever.