[techtalk] Seeming inconsistency between /etc/passwd and "real" password data

[Seageraves Caren]

I have noticed something strange on my system.   

I no longer have an enty in the file /etc/passwd for
my usual login.  I am able to log out and log back in
using this login name.  So,it seems as though the data
in the passwd file is present somewhere, but it is not
visible in the passwd file.   I could not believe this
so I wrote a progam to retrieve the information in
/etc/passwd using struct passwd (pw.h).  All goes well
when I access the information that is usually in my
password file using the pointer returned by
getpwnam(username).

What do I not understand about how linux stores the
info in /etc/passwd.  I had thought the system
referred to the passwd file when I logged in.  Will I
find that I will not be able to login if I reboot?  

caren

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