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Possible Duplicate:
Does character 'ä' in usernames cause bugs in linux systems?

Is it possible to create a user with a Unicode login name (and home folder name) ? For instance, in Arch Linux, I try:

$ useradd -d /home/andréas -m   -g users  -s /bin/bash andréas
useradd: invalid user name 'andréas'

I'm wondering if there's a way to enable such a thing, weither it be with another *nix or some custom kernel compilation.

If it's not possible, why?

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marked as duplicate by jasonwryan, warl0ck, manatwork, Stéphane Gimenez, Renan Oct 8 '12 at 12:45

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1 Answer

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The folder name isn't the problem, it's the user name. User names can have only a very restricted character set (letters, dashes and digits only); see here.

The why however, isn't explained very clearly. Maybe someone else can chime in,

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