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| A '''wheel war''' is a contest between privileged users on a shared, on-line computer system. Each discovers (or invents) ways to interfere with the other's use of the system |
A '''wheel war''' is a contest between privileged users on a shared, on-line computer system. Each discovers (or invents) ways to interfere with the other's use of the system, generally as a practical joke, or a way of blowing off steam. | ||
| The term originated in the late ] or early ] when ] was a very common ]. In many Unix systems, the ] command could be used to gain ] access to a machine. Fearing misuse, some system administrators only allowed users in a certain group to use su; this group was frequently referred to as "wheel". ] su, does not support "wheel", primarily for such philosophical reasons. | |||
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Revision as of 21:13, 3 August 2005
A wheel war is a contest between privileged users on a shared, on-line computer system. Each discovers (or invents) ways to interfere with the other's use of the system, generally as a practical joke, or a way of blowing off steam.
The term originated in the late 1960s or early 1970s when Unix was a very common operating system. In many Unix systems, the su command could be used to gain superuser access to a machine. Fearing misuse, some system administrators only allowed users in a certain group to use su; this group was frequently referred to as "wheel". GNU su, does not support "wheel", primarily for such philosophical reasons.
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