Auto-logoff facility in Unix

[guy at rlgvax.UUCP]

> This would really only work on USG Unix, but if you have the TIMEOUT
> facility in your /bin/sh, and you (i.e. the system administrator) want to
> force auto-logout, it is pretty easy.  Just add two lines to /etc/profile:

> TIMEOUT=...	# set to amount of time
> readonly TIMEOUT

> The USG sh, when it is a login shell, reads /etc/profile, and then .profile
> in the home directory.  Making TIMEOUT readonly will 1) keep users from
> changing it, and 2) automatically export it to subshells.

> Of course the knowledgeable/devious user can always get around it:  

The knowledgable/devious user can always say

	exec /bin/sh

which voids all "readonly" "declarations".  So much for "readonly" as
a security measure, except in restricted shells...

	Guy Harris
	{seismo,ihnp4,allegra}!rlgvax!guy