Okay, step by step.
1) In order to use 2.2.x, I have to update a plethora of system
utilities.
s/plethora of/few/
2) Among them, the ones included in util-linux (including login, passwd
and others).
False.
If you want to use big swap spaces, you need the new mkswap from util-linux.
Some people will also want a recent mount. Some other programs had some bugs
fixed or functionality added. There is no reason to upgrade anything from
util-linux as long as you are happy with your present version of the utilities.
3) The util-linux README (newest version) says it doesn't support shadow
paswords! (Using /etc/passwd is not acceptable for me.)
This is today the same as it always has been.
4) I could install, over util-linux, the Shadow Password Suite found at
ftp://i17linuxb.ists.pwr.wroc.pl/pub/linux/shadow
but is it safe? There's a July 98 version deemed stable, and a December
98 version deemed "development". None of them ever mentions kernel 2.2
or the newest version of util-linux.
What do I do?
When all else fails, read the instructions.
Let me quote them for you:
>From INSTALL:
To install from source:
1) Get source distribution (see the .lsm file for locations)
2) Untar util-linux-2.9.tar.gz somewhere
3) cd util-linux-2.9
4) Edit MCONFIG
...
>From MCONFIG:
# If HAVE_SHADOW is set to "yes", then login, chfn, chsh, newgrp, passwd,
# and vipw will not be built or installed from the login-utils
# subdirectory.
HAVE_SHADOW=yes
And what's the reasoning behind not supporting shadow passwords in
util-linux?
That is another package.
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