$MAIL in /etc/passwd according to `man login'

Slackware_user · 08-07-2014, 06:28 AM

In manpage for login it says it is possible to set $MAIL in /etc/passwd:

Quote:

Your user and group ID will be set according to their values in the /etc/passwd file. The value for $HOME, $SHELL, $PATH, $LOGNAME, and $MAIL are set according to the appropriate fields in the password entry.

However, man 5 passwd on my system (Slackware) doesn't mention $MAIL variable. I can set $MAIL variable in /etc/login.defs only. On what is it possible to set $MAIL in /etc/passwd? I wonder if it's possible on any Linux based system or only on other Unices.

Spatior · 08-07-2014, 09:37 AM

You should always trust the man pages on your box, since the version/implmentation of each program may be different from others, even in the same distro, not to mention *nix versions.

I have never seen any position to hold $MAIL in the /etc/passwd file

Slackware_user · 08-07-2014, 01:06 PM

I do trust manpages on my system. I just didn't find any mention of setting $MAIL in /etc/passwd in other manpages.

Spatior · 08-07-2014, 04:24 PM

Hi Slackware_user,

In this case I belive there is no program reading the $MAIL from /etc/passwd, if you need this behavior, maybe a shell/perl script will be needed. But if possible have that variable somewhere else, it all depends on your needs.