Don't be so quick to say that pppd should be u+s by default. I will
try to avoid the distribution wars by stating that there are only two
classes of Linux distributions to consider. They are Debian and Red Hat
and its following. Each has their advantages and I happen to use Red Hat.
Now my point was that having a pppd lying around that people can run
without the sysadmin deciding that is what he wants can be a bad idea.
_If_ he(she) wants users to be able to run pppd then the advice is
correct, but this could be a problem for some systems where pppd isn't
intended to be used by users. Perhaps those serial lines are connected
to something that you don't want pppd messing with.
Now for my plug. Debian appears to be a very respectable distribution,
but it does not enjoy the main stream and commercial support that
the Red Hat/Caldera group does. It is for this non-technical reason
that I use Red Hat. ...it also happens to be very well put together
and maintained.
Cheers!
Ty