Re: Non-system user not able to check in

[Larry Jones]

Gaurav Chhabra writes:
> 
> What I understood from the official CVS guide is that CVS passwd file CAN
> contain any imaginary username (one that is not present in Unix /etc/passwd
> file). Even if user 'fish' is not a system user name, it should be able to
> login and perform all CVS operations. 

You understand incorrectly.

> We are able to perform all CVS operations only in the following cases:
> 1. First field of CVS passwd file contains a system user name with NO third
> field.
> 2. First field of CVS passwd file contains an imaginary name and third field
> contains a system user name.
> 
> Can anyone please explain me this behaviour?

That's the way it's supposed to work.  (There's also a third case where
both the first and third fields contain system user names.)  CVS always
has to run as some system user, so if the first field is not a system
user, you have to specify the third field to tell CVS which system user
to run as.
-- 
Larry Jones

These findings suggest a logical course of action. -- Calvin