S5 init and /bin/su: a useful trick

[geoff at callan.UUCP]

We all know by now that System 5 init runs /bin/su rather than /bin/sh, and
that the reason for this is to run the shell in the password file.  (In fact,
my system runs /bin/csh in single-user mode).  But did you know that there
is a way to get init to run /bin/sh directly?  Try this:

	ln /bin/sh /bin/su

Obviously, this will only work on a dedicated filesystem that is intended for
running in single-user mode.  Fortunately, this was exactly what we were
doing--the filesystem is a bootable floppy and is *tight*.  The 57 or so
blocks used by /bin/su were sure useful once we came up with this idea.
-- 

	Geoff Kuenning
	Callan Data Systems
	...!ihnp4!wlbr!callan!geoff