Subject: Re: Text form of wtmp
To: Greywolf <firstname.lastname@example.org>
From: Matthias Buelow <email@example.com>
Date: 02/18/2005 00:28:41
> And finally, to address perhaps the most simple characteristic regarding
> wtmp, wtmpx, acct, lastlog and lastlogx: It isn't broken by any stretch
> of the imagination (save that wtmp records became too small with the
> advent of the commercial internet!). It doesn't need to be fixed.
It is of course true that the status quo hardly warrants a rewrite of
the wtmp(x) mechanism and that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" applies
here.. I wager, however, that most people would also agree, that if it
were to be done anew, that for that purpose, a plain text file would
have many advantages over an opaque binary file.