[Pkg-shadow-devel] Bug#484596: closed by Nicolas François <nicolas.francois at centraliens.net> (Re: Bug#484596: passwd: usermod fussy about options in an undocumented manner)

[Nick Phillips]

Debian Bug Tracking System wrote:
> I did not change the documentation. I find the description of -o quite
> clear.
>        -o, --non-unique
>                  When used with the -u option, this option allows to
>                  change the user ID to a non-unique value.
>
> In 1:4.1.0-1, usermod does not depend on the order of options anymore.
>   


That's clear about what happens when you use it along with the -u 
option, not what happens if you provide it when -u is not present. I'd 
suggest it should be ignored, as the logic of the -o is maintained that 
way, and it's not as annoying - I would argue that it is perfectly valid 
to want to allow duplicate UIDs even when you are not adjusting a UID.

This makes me wonder - what does usermod do when the UID is duplicated 
and it is being asked to e.g. change the GECOS field?



Cheers,


Nick