This affect is not very strange. It's normal for SuSE-Linux. They do correct the ownership and chmod-bits according to /etc/permissions*. e.g. a "grep sbin/pppd /etc/permissions*" /etc/permissions.easy:/usr/sbin/pppd root.dialout 6754 /etc/permissions.paranoid:/usr/sbin/pppd root.dialout 0750 /etc/permissions.secure:/usr/sbin/pppd root.dialout 6750 So we see that only when using the easy permissions pppd is set SUID for the group dialout and a dialout could be triggered for name resolution by a normal user in the group dialout. All in all this has nothing to to with ping itself... Everything clear now?! ;-) -- Eat, sleep and go running, David Huecking. Encrypted eMail welcome! GnuPG/ PGP-Fingerprint: 3DF2 CBE0 DFAA 4164 02C2 4E2A E005 8DF7 5780 9216 On Wed, 16 Oct 2002, Michael Seewald wrote:
The error-message "ping: unknown host..." sounds more like an error in name-resolving in that very moment. Could you try the ping not with a DNS-name but with an IP (e.g. 193.99.144.71 for www.heise.de) or maybe you
Yes, that does it. Apparently, name resolution failed!!!
Today, I noticed that these effects disappear when I change permissions (in yast) to "easy" and restart the pppd daemon. Apparently, SuSEconfig changes pppd to group dialout with a SUID bit. When the daemon is started with the new permissions it somehow brings up these effects.
Strange!