 | | Most importantly, the login name is used when logging in to identify yourself to the system. When presented with a “login:” prompt, you enter your login name, followed by your password to gain access. Another important use for the login name is in addressing electronic mail. At some point, all electronic mail is identified by the login name of the person who sent it, and by the login name(s) of the intended recipient(s). Although it has recently become popular to allow mail to be addressed as “Firstname.Lastname@host.domain” (or something similar), this is almost universally handled by mapping the “Firstname.Lastname” strings (e.g., “Robert M. Smith,” “Robert Smith,” “Bob Smith”) to the login name (e.g., “bmsmith”) internally. Other uses for the login name include identifying output on the printer, granting or removing privileges in permissions files, and so forth. | |
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