On Sun, Aug 31, 2025 at 03:56:03PM -0500, Aaron Rainbolt wrote: > > I consider write, mesg to be legacy interfaces. On a typical > > install, they are purely dead weight. > > > > I forgot if write even -works- on a default install, ISTR the answer > > is 'no' (even after 'mesg y'). IIRC wall is also challenged on the > > default install, but I opted to keep it for the sake of non-default > > installs (sysvinit, etc). > > Originally I wrote quite a long reply to this, but then decided to try > and test functionality first. Unless the user runs `mesg y` *and* > /dev/ttyX is owned by group 'tty' *and* /usr/bin/write is SGID 'tty', > it doesn't work.
Right, that's kinda what I remembered, but didn't have time to reproduce until now. Indeed, when I restore write to what we had after the security update: % write write: effective gid does not match group of /dev/pts/0 % sudo write root write: root is not logged in % sudo write zeha write: zeha is not logged in So from my PoV having write installed by default is pointless. I think even putting it into -extra or some other non-essential package would still be not worth it. > Sorry for the trouble, and thank you for your patience with me. You're welcome. Thanks for listening and verifying the situation. Best, Chris
