> From: Dalton Calford <dcalford@...>
> Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 12:38:59 -0500
>
> Ultimately, I would like to see some method proposed that would safely
> allow the interbase server to run as some user other than root on a *nix
> system.
>
> It has been awhile, can someone update me as to the exact reasons why IB
> must run as root and what problems will occur if it is run as some other
> user?

The recommended way to run SuperServer on Unix today is under a
separate login called interbase (or interbas if your flavor of Unix
won't handle 9-character login names).

The Unix classic server with TCP/IP starts as root so that it can then
change to the credentials of the client who connected, if the client
is on the same system or a trusted system (as in /etc/hosts.equiv
etc.)

I guess the bottom line is that if you care about security, you should
NOT use the IB classic server, and you should run the SuperServer as
user interbas(e), not as root.