su alternative for Win2k

[Jonathan Arnold]

Andrew Schulman wrote:
>>I was just installing postgreSQL and ran across the problem with
>>getting initdb to run as the postgres user. As expected, I could
>>neither su nor login to work. Searching the archives and the like
>>for a fix, the most often specified one was to use ssh.  But as I
>>don't run sshd, and it seems a shame to have to run this just to
>>get an su-like behaviour, that wouldn't work for me.
> 
> 
> Now I'm curious.  I haven't tried to search for bug reports on su in 
> Cygwin.  But it's never worked for me.  I always figured that I was just 
> doing something wrong, but it was never important enough to find out 
> what it was and fix it-- I just used 'Run As' instead, as you suggest.
> 
> So now I wonder, is it not just me?  Is su in Cygwin broken for 
> everyone?

Yes, according to the FAQ, su is essentially unsupported.  One suggestion
is to use 'login' but that also requires lots of research and changing of
security parameters and the like.  I couldn't really get RunAs to work for
me. It wouldn't let me type in a password.  I like the shortcut because now
I can get a real bash shell for any of my "users" at the click of a mouse.

-- 
Jonathan Arnold     (mailto:jdarnold@buddydog.org)
Amazing Developments       http://www.buddydog.org

I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages. -
  William H. Mauldin


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