Linuxers posted a guide on the history of /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files
So, I learned something important today. When you don't have an Internet access but have still got work to do, may be with a heavy heart, but you eventually end up in a library. As it turns out, reading a howto from a book is fun too. I was looking to do a crazy thing on my system(lets leave that story for some other day ) and while I was looking for something related, I came across a wonderful write up on /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files. I don't know how I missed this stuff while I was learning the basics.The history of /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow files
All I had known about these files until today was that /etc/passwd file, inspite of having passwd term in its name, is used to store all kind of user related information other than password. And /etc/shadow is used to save the passwords for all the users listed in its companion file, /etc/passwd.
