Vitorio Okio wrote:

> Being new to Linux and I have no experience in Linux multi-user
> environment. Thus I have a couple of questions. They might seem to
> some of you stupid, but nevertheless they do put me in difficulty.
>
> 1.
>
> By default Ubuntu installs in a single user mode. Let say I've
> installed Ubuntu, configured it, installed and configured all needed
> for me (!) applications.
>
> Now I am adding a new user, create an account with the new user home
> directory being created, setup his password, setup his privileges,
> etc., etc. This is know to me part.
>
> When the new user will log in, will ALL the applications I installed
> for myself be available to him? What if I want only a SUBSET of
> applications I installed for myself to be available to the new user?
> How do I do it? If it is possible.
>
> I am looking for a way to make SOME of the programs I already
> installed for myself being available to the new user without a need to
> go through an additional lengthy installation process.
>
> Or, I have no choice but to install all applications the new user
> needs again after logging in under his account? But if it is so,
> then...
>
> 2.
>
> What about /usr directory in multi-user environment? Do all the users
> share the same /usr directory? If they do (seems logical to me, since
> at the end it is a system directory), what happens when both of us
> install the same application?
>
Only users with sudo rights can install software outside of his/her home
directory. As the main user (first user), you get to install software
through the repos (Synaptic, apt-get, etc) because you can enter the
correct password to do so. This prevents other users from installing the
same software twice. Besides, Synaptic will inform you if the software is
already installed. :-)

Another user without sudo rights can install software directly into his/her
home directory, but not from the repos without sudo rights.

Cheers.

--
The world can't afford the rich.

My Killfile List: Frank, dennis@home ... Sorry, won't be able to read your
BS any longer.

NoStop wrote:
> Vitorio Okio wrote:
>
.... snip ...
>
>> What about /usr directory in multi-user environment? Do all the
>> users share the same /usr directory? If they do (seems logical
>> to me, since at the end it is a system directory), what happens
>> when both of us install the same application?
>
> Only users with sudo rights can install software outside of
> his/her home directory. As the main user (first user), you get
> to install software through the repos (Synaptic, apt-get, etc)
> because you can enter the correct password to do so. This
> prevents other users from installing the same software twice.
> Besides, Synaptic will inform you if the software is already
> installed. :-)
>
> Another user without sudo rights can install software directly
> into his/her home directory, but not from the repos without sudo
> rights.

The critical things are the access rights to files, and the actual
owners. There are separate specifications for read, write, and
execute privileges, applicable to the owner, the group, and to
everyone. ls can show you all these values.

--
[mail]: Chuck F (cbfalconer at maineline dot net)
[page]:
Try the download section.



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

> Only users with sudo rights can install software outside of his/her
> home
> directory. As the main user (first user), you get to install
> software
> through the repos (Synaptic, apt-get, etc) because you can enter the
> correct password to do so. This prevents other users from installing
> the
> same software twice. Besides, Synaptic will inform you if the
> software is
> already installed. :-)

This covers the case, when the new user wants to install an
application that I've not installed for myself as the main user yet.
OK, I go and install it for him.

But what about sharing already installed applications? I'm not
talking about file acess rights, or user privileges. I'm OK with this
part. I can get the new user acess to an executable, or add the user
to the group that is granted such access. Then I add a required menu
item to the user menu list, and he is set up.

> Another user without sudo rights can install software directly into
> his/her
> home directory, but not from the repos without sudo rights.

This is my difficulty. This your last statement is exactly what I'm
missing. Could you, please, explain what do you mean by "can install
software directly into his home directory, but not from the repos"?

To be more specific - what do you mean by "install" in this context?
Copying files? Running a command?

I'll try to explain what I do not understand on an example scenario.

E.g. I run from CLI for myself as a main user:

sudo apt-get install evolution

Evolution is installed and creates MY user profile. By user profile I
mean all the directories and their respective content that Evolution
creates in MY home directory upon installation.

Now, I want the new user to use Evolution as well. I give him access
right to executable and add Evolution to his menu list.

But since the user profile creation IS A PART OF INSTALLATION PROCESS,
and the Evolution is ALREADY installed, and, as you pointed out,
Synaptic will not even allow me to run a second installation. Then
how my new user will get HIS user profile installed in HIS home
directory? At the end we do not want to share our calendars, contacts
and tasks, do we?

In this example I assume that Evolution would be smart enough to use
the currently logged in user profile and will not mess our profiles
up. Correct me if I'm wrong, please.

"Vitorio Okio" wrote:


> 1.
>
> By default Ubuntu installs in a single user mode. Let say I've

No. Linux is always installed in multi user mode. It has a single user
mode but that's only for very special administration tasks


> installed Ubuntu, configured it, installed and configured all needed
> for me (!) applications.
>
> Now I am adding a new user, create an account with the new user home
> directory being created, setup his password, setup his privileges,
> etc., etc. This is know to me part.
>
> When the new user will log in, will ALL the applications I installed
> for myself be available to him? What if I want only a SUBSET of
> applications I installed for myself to be available to the new user?
> How do I do it? If it is possible.

All applications you install via the package management are available
for all users (but they may need special privileges to use them).

To make only a subset available for some users needs some good
knowledge about the system.


> 2.
>
> What about /usr directory in multi-user environment? Do all the users
> share the same /usr directory? If they do (seems logical to me, since
> at the end it is a system directory), what happens when both of us
> install the same application?

Every user has it's own home directory, everything else is shared
between all users.



Florian
--

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
** Hi! I'm a signature virus! Copy me into your signature, please! **
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Vitorio Okio wrote:

>> Only users with sudo rights can install software outside of his/her
>> home
>> directory. As the main user (first user), you get to install
>> software
>> through the repos (Synaptic, apt-get, etc) because you can enter the
>> correct password to do so. This prevents other users from installing
>> the
>> same software twice. Besides, Synaptic will inform you if the
>> software is
>> already installed. :-)
>
> This covers the case, when the new user wants to install an
> application that I've not installed for myself as the main user yet.
> OK, I go and install it for him.
>
> But what about sharing already installed applications? I'm not
> talking about file acess rights, or user privileges. I'm OK with this
> part. I can get the new user acess to an executable, or add the user
> to the group that is granted such access. Then I add a required menu
> item to the user menu list, and he is set up.
>
>> Another user without sudo rights can install software directly into
>> his/her
>> home directory, but not from the repos without sudo rights.
>
> This is my difficulty. This your last statement is exactly what I'm
> missing. Could you, please, explain what do you mean by "can install
> software directly into his home directory, but not from the repos"?
>
> To be more specific - what do you mean by "install" in this context?
> Copying files? Running a command?
>
> I'll try to explain what I do not understand on an example scenario.
>
> E.g. I run from CLI for myself as a main user:
>
> sudo apt-get install evolution
>
> Evolution is installed and creates MY user profile. By user profile I
> mean all the directories and their respective content that Evolution
> creates in MY home directory upon installation.
>
> Now, I want the new user to use Evolution as well. I give him access
> right to executable and add Evolution to his menu list.
>
> But since the user profile creation IS A PART OF INSTALLATION PROCESS,
> and the Evolution is ALREADY installed, and, as you pointed out,
> Synaptic will not even allow me to run a second installation. Then
> how my new user will get HIS user profile installed in HIS home
> directory? At the end we do not want to share our calendars, contacts
> and tasks, do we?
>
> In this example I assume that Evolution would be smart enough to use
> the currently logged in user profile and will not mess our profiles
> up. Correct me if I'm wrong, please.

In your scenario, if you install Evolution it will end up in /usr/bin and be
available to all users. Your new user will find Evolution in his/her menu
and on the panel. It will NOT be configured for that new user until it is
first run by that user. It is then that Evolution's configuration is setup
in his home directory in the hidden file .evolution.

Cheers.

--
The world can't afford the rich.

My Killfile List: Frank, dennis@home ... Sorry, won't be able to read your
BS any longer.

NoStop wrote:

> Vitorio Okio wrote:
>
>>> Only users with sudo rights can install software outside of his/her
>>> home
>>> directory. As the main user (first user), you get to install
>>> software
>>> through the repos (Synaptic, apt-get, etc) because you can enter the
>>> correct password to do so. This prevents other users from installing
>>> the
>>> same software twice. Besides, Synaptic will inform you if the
>>> software is
>>> already installed. :-)
>>
>> This covers the case, when the new user wants to install an
>> application that I've not installed for myself as the main user yet.
>> OK, I go and install it for him.
>>
>> But what about sharing already installed applications? I'm not
>> talking about file acess rights, or user privileges. I'm OK with this
>> part. I can get the new user acess to an executable, or add the user
>> to the group that is granted such access. Then I add a required menu
>> item to the user menu list, and he is set up.
>>
>>> Another user without sudo rights can install software directly into
>>> his/her
>>> home directory, but not from the repos without sudo rights.
>>
>> This is my difficulty. This your last statement is exactly what I'm
>> missing. Could you, please, explain what do you mean by "can install
>> software directly into his home directory, but not from the repos"?
>>
>> To be more specific - what do you mean by "install" in this context?
>> Copying files? Running a command?
>>
>> I'll try to explain what I do not understand on an example scenario.
>>
>> E.g. I run from CLI for myself as a main user:
>>
>> sudo apt-get install evolution
>>
>> Evolution is installed and creates MY user profile. By user profile I
>> mean all the directories and their respective content that Evolution
>> creates in MY home directory upon installation.
>>
>> Now, I want the new user to use Evolution as well. I give him access
>> right to executable and add Evolution to his menu list.
>>
>> But since the user profile creation IS A PART OF INSTALLATION PROCESS,
>> and the Evolution is ALREADY installed, and, as you pointed out,
>> Synaptic will not even allow me to run a second installation. Then
>> how my new user will get HIS user profile installed in HIS home
>> directory? At the end we do not want to share our calendars, contacts
>> and tasks, do we?
>>
>> In this example I assume that Evolution would be smart enough to use
>> the currently logged in user profile and will not mess our profiles
>> up. Correct me if I'm wrong, please.
>
> In your scenario, if you install Evolution it will end up in /usr/bin and
> be available to all users. Your new user will find Evolution in his/her
> menu and on the panel. It will NOT be configured for that new user until
> it is first run by that user. It is then that Evolution's configuration is
> setup in his home directory in the hidden file .evolution.
>
> Cheers.
>
Correction, that should have been "in the hidden directory .evolution".

Cheers.

--
The world can't afford the rich.

My Killfile List: Frank, dennis@home ... Sorry, won't be able to read your
BS any longer.

thanks.

"NoStop" wrote in message
news:fpe2o00vc@news2.newsguy.com...
> Vitorio Okio wrote:
>
>>> Only users with sudo rights can install software outside of
>>> his/her
>>> home
>>> directory. As the main user (first user), you get to install
>>> software
>>> through the repos (Synaptic, apt-get, etc) because you can enter
>>> the
>>> correct password to do so. This prevents other users from
>>> installing
>>> the
>>> same software twice. Besides, Synaptic will inform you if the
>>> software is
>>> already installed. :-)
>>
>> This covers the case, when the new user wants to install an
>> application that I've not installed for myself as the main user
>> yet.
>> OK, I go and install it for him.
>>
>> But what about sharing already installed applications? I'm not
>> talking about file acess rights, or user privileges. I'm OK with
>> this
>> part. I can get the new user acess to an executable, or add the
>> user
>> to the group that is granted such access. Then I add a required
>> menu
>> item to the user menu list, and he is set up.
>>
>>> Another user without sudo rights can install software directly
>>> into
>>> his/her
>>> home directory, but not from the repos without sudo rights.
>>
>> This is my difficulty. This your last statement is exactly what
>> I'm
>> missing. Could you, please, explain what do you mean by "can
>> install
>> software directly into his home directory, but not from the repos"?
>>
>> To be more specific - what do you mean by "install" in this
>> context?
>> Copying files? Running a command?
>>
>> I'll try to explain what I do not understand on an example
>> scenario.
>>
>> E.g. I run from CLI for myself as a main user:
>>
>> sudo apt-get install evolution
>>
>> Evolution is installed and creates MY user profile. By user
>> profile I
>> mean all the directories and their respective content that
>> Evolution
>> creates in MY home directory upon installation.
>>
>> Now, I want the new user to use Evolution as well. I give him
>> access
>> right to executable and add Evolution to his menu list.
>>
>> But since the user profile creation IS A PART OF INSTALLATION
>> PROCESS,
>> and the Evolution is ALREADY installed, and, as you pointed out,
>> Synaptic will not even allow me to run a second installation. Then
>> how my new user will get HIS user profile installed in HIS home
>> directory? At the end we do not want to share our calendars,
>> contacts
>> and tasks, do we?
>>
>> In this example I assume that Evolution would be smart enough to
>> use
>> the currently logged in user profile and will not mess our profiles
>> up. Correct me if I'm wrong, please.
>
> In your scenario, if you install Evolution it will end up in
> /usr/bin and be
> available to all users. Your new user will find Evolution in his/her
> menu
> and on the panel. It will NOT be configured for that new user until
> it is
> first run by that user. It is then that Evolution's configuration is
> setup
> in his home directory in the hidden file .evolution.
>
> Cheers.
>
> --
> The world can't afford the rich.
>
> My Killfile List: Frank, dennis@home ... Sorry, won't be able to
> read your
> BS any longer.

Vitorio Okio wrote:
> Being new to Linux and I have no experience in Linux multi-user
> environment. Thus I have a couple of questions. They might seem to
> some of you stupid, but nevertheless they do put me in difficulty.
>
> 1.
>
Looks like everybody answered this question. I'll see about the second.

> 2.
>
> What about /usr directory in multi-user environment? Do all the users
> share the same /usr directory? If they do (seems logical to me, since
> at the end it is a system directory), what happens when both of us
> install the same application?
>
>
> I never came across any how-to of kind. Can anybody point me to some
> info? I'm having hard time to come up with an appropriate key-string
> for googling this to find some guidance.


As you've figured out the /usr directory is for programs. Specifically
non-system programs such as firefox or evolution. Anybody you grant
access to the sudo command can install or remove programs including
these programs. Essentially this is a shared area for programs available
to everybody. There are ways to restrict access to certain programs to
individual users but that wasn't your question.

Should your user not have sudo access they can still install programs
in their own /home/ area. What I have done is set up access so
both the "." (current directory) and "~/bin" (the users own bin
directory) are in the program execution path. This means individual
users can write their own programs and put them where they want (when
things are working I suggest the "~/bin" directory). They can also
download and compile their own programs from source code. Frankly if the
program is useful I'll make it available to all. There are ways to make
these programs available to others as well.

Later
Mike