Linux/UNIX Q: what are users daemon, sys, and bin for?

On a Linux/UNIX system, what are users daemon, sys, and bin for? I looked in /etc/passwd and found that they can't log in (no shell), but they own some files, and no process is running as them.





Can anyone help me out?

Linux/UNIX Q: what are users daemon, sys, and bin for?
Hello,





These users are in charge of built in system functions, they arent actual "users" but they are required





Any userid under 500 on a linux system can basicly be considered a system user..





heres a general list:





backup: historical, probably safe to remove


bin: historical, and possibly used


daemon: historical, commonly used by daemons that need to own files, but can't


have their own user for some reason


games: placeholder for group games, don't remove it


irc: used for irc daemon(s), probably not necessary


list: I don't know


lp: used for printing daemon(s) and as a placeholder for group lp, don't remove


unless you don't have a printer and have no printing software installed


mail: placeholder for group mail, sometimes used by mail daemon(s), don't remove


man: placeholder for group man, don't remove unless you don't use the man


command


messagebus: I don't know


operator: historical, probably safe to remove


proxy: almost definately safe to remove unless you run any proxy server(s) that


use it


sync: I don't know


sys: I don't know


uucp: if you've never heard of it, you probably don't need it











Please note we dont reccomend you remove ANY account under userid 500 ever.





to remove a real user you added use userdel username











Hope it helps!




















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