Hi, On Sun, Nov 24, 2024 at 03:37:36PM +0100, Giuseppe Sacco wrote: > It is true that user account name and user (display) name are > different, of course. But still, when you log in, you use the user > account name to the access system; this is the text shown in file > ownership listing and almost everywhere in the system. > I think that user (display) name, that may be put in gecos field, are > not widely used.
I think this differes between GUIs and DEs (which are more likely to use the display name) and the console (where the user name is used). > Moreover, adduser man page on Debian stable, states > that gecos fields will be removed after bookworm. That's a misunderstanding. We're just in the process of renaming the --gecos option to --comment as per passwd(5) documentation. Sadly, passwd(5) uses "login name" instead of "user name" > So, having a good account user name is an important thing. And we have > to chose if it should be "good" for the computer (like in: unique, > lowercase, short, US-ASCII, etc.) or if it should be "good" for the > real user. In the latter case, I would accept a broader class of > strings for the very simple reason that it should be left to user > preference. I think that we should have reached a state where a properly UTF-8 encoded string should be a good compromise between "good for the computer" and "good for the person". In Debian, we have a rather tightly controlled ecosystem and can take care that things don't break too badly. > I checked what other systems do: Thank you for this tedious work. I have incorporated that into https://wiki.debian.org/UserAccountsPhilosophy to preserve the information. Greetings Marc -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marc Haber | "I don't trust Computers. They | Mailadresse im Header Leimen, Germany | lose things." Winona Ryder | Fon: *49 6224 1600402 Nordisch by Nature | How to make an American Quilt | Fax: *49 6224 1600421
