On Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:52:22 +0100, b.n. wrote:

> > The file /etc/sudoers should always be edited with visudo. visudo uses
> > file locking, provides basic sanity checks and checks for parse
> > errors.  
> 
> This always made me crazy.
> 
> Why, why, why should I use a specialized editor to edit a system file?
> It's not like we have vixorgconf, vifstab. You are welcome to edit these
> files with any editor you like. Why is /etc/sudoers special?

It's no more special than /etc/passwd, which should be edited with vipw.
And it's not a specialised editor, these are just wrappers that call
$EDITOR, so you end up using the same program to edit the files, but with
a safety net. Remember that some systems restrict root access, so a
fscked /etc/sudoers could lock you out.

It's not like you HAVE to use the wrapper either, there's nothing to stop
you using any editor you like, directly, and it's the best choice if you
want to be free to screw up the file. 


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Procedure: (n.) a method of performing a program sub-task in an
inefficient way by extensively using the stack instead of a GOTO.