Richard Stallman, su and the wheel group

Hardware and technical stuff
1

I’m sure this is old news to those familiar with unix, but I just recently stumbled across the reason why the GNU version of su does not support the common wheel group.

Taken from this site:

Why GNU su does not support the `wheel’ group

(This section is by Richard Stallman.)

Sometimes a few of the users try to hold total power over all the rest. For example, in 1984, a few users at the MIT AI lab decided to seize power by changing the operator password on the Twenex system and keeping it secret from everyone else. (I was able to thwart this coup and give power back to the users by patching the kernel, but I wouldn’t know how to do that in Unix.)

However, occasionally the rulers do tell someone. Under the usual su mechanism, once someone learns the root password who sympathizes with the ordinary users, he or she can tell the rest. The “wheel group” feature would make this impossible, and thus cement the power of the rulers.

I’m on the side of the masses, not that of the rulers. If you are used to supporting the bosses and sysadmins in whatever they do, you might find this idea strange at first.

Stallman is definitely not someone I’d want in charge of the security of my system.

2

Hell, I wouldn’t want him in charge of my microwave oven. Stallman is batshit insane. Did someone already link to that interview where he refused to answer questions about Linux unless the interviewer called it “GNU/Linux” in every question?

3

Yes, Stallman is an interesting person. He doesn’t just disagree with the “wheel” group, he doesn’t believe in passwords at all. At least in the past he used a blank or obvious password on his computers. He is not just crazy though, he is the kind of crazy guy that is needed to change the world (at least a little).

4

I have no problem crediting Stallman for his time in the early days of the free software movement, but I’d have to be convinced that he doesn’t do as much harm as good to the movement these days.

He’s become the Ralph Nader of alternative operating systems.