Re: High UID support for Linux

Todd Graham Lewis (tlewis@mindspring.net)
Tue, 24 Nov 1998 21:41:40 -0500 (EST)


On Mon, 23 Nov 1998, Theodore Y. Ts'o wrote:

> The only problem them would be for people using libc5 or a.out
> libraries. They would simply not be able to take advantage of > 16bit
> uids on their system.

For what it's worth, this is a serious limit. We had to dump uid-fullness
of all MindSpring subscribers around the fall of 1996 because we passed
64k accounts. Moving an entire ISP's server infrastructure from uid-ful
to uid-less can be an unpleasant experience. It was over a year before I
saw other unices with >16-bit uids. I think DU presently has 64-bit uids?
Regardless, in at least one environment, it is a real problem.

If any ISPs out there are having problems with 16-bit uids, sell your
customers to MindSpring and avoid the hassle of working around it! Hey,
wait, you guys can take your time solving this problem. 8^)

--
Todd Graham Lewis      MindSpring Enterprises    tlewis@mindspring.net
 The Windows 2000 name was obviously created over a glass of root beer
  in the company cafeteria by a couple of executives looking for a way
   out of the Windows NT delays.                     -- John C. Dvorak

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