Looking at my /etc/passwd, I have this entry:

nobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/nonexistent:/bin/sh

As I understand it, the second 65534 is the GID that nobody belongs to. Now, looking at my /etc/group, I have this entry:

nogroup:x:65534:

The entry in /etc/passwd seems to imply that user 'nobody' belongs to the group 'nogroup'. However, if that is so, then shouldn't the entry in /etc/group be:

nogroup:x:65534:nobody ?

In fact for most of the entries in /etc/group, there is no entry for members of the group (i.e. no entries after the last colon).

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks !

Only members whose PRIMARY group-membership isn't
set in /etc/paswd need to be listed in /etc/group. That is,
if nobody was member of a group nobody (with that being
defined as his default group in passwd) and you also wanted
him to be member of nogroup you'd need to make him a
member of that in /etc/group



Cheers,
Tink