Re: [cobalt-users] email addresses and aliases

["Steve Werby" <steve-lists@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Paul Warner" <pwarner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
<snip>
> I'm trying to understand the Cobalt way of thinking on this
> one
</snip>

> If a user with name
> User1 were to join site2's organization, I would have to make a
> variation on their name (User1.1) to differentiate and then
> could create an alias for User1 under User1.1's config.

Correct.  Usernames on the server must be unique.  This isn't unique to
Cobalt servers - it's standard on *nix operating systems.  I find that it's
a good idea to have a procedure in place for generating usernames.  It helps
with organization and having usernames that are different from the email
aliases which are used adds another layer of security since a hacker will
have difficulty guessing a username.  On RaQs I control, I name my users as
follows:

d018003 - where "d" is the name of the server, "018" is the site number and
"003" is the third user on the site.  If a user contacts me I always know
right away what server and site that user is on and there are never any
username conflicts.  Of course, not every admin has the luxury of
controlling username creation (or wants to).  On boxes I don't control, I
recommend the admin puts a procedure in place asking site admins to prefix
usernames with a certain phrase, preferably something like "site5" or a part
of the hostname.  In any case, it's preferable that usernames are no more
than 8 characters max since an "ls" command that shows the file owner only
shows the first 8 characters of the username and it's a pain (though not
technically difficult) to find the full username otherwise.  I used to use 8
character usernames, but now I use 7, reserving the 8th for special
purposes.

HTH,

--
Steve Werby
President, Befriend Internet Services LLC
http://www.befriend.com/