When I was first learning Linux I recall reading that because it is so widely used, "nobody" is (jokingly?) known as the "second most privileged user, after root
" on Unix machines.
A quick google search seems to corroborate that it is a common saying, not just a quirk of the author I was reading.
Why is this a common saying? Is it really true?
nobody
owns a lot of files...so if you can manage to login or run a shell asnobody
you've got write access to some/all/most of them. – cas Mar 25 '16 at 4:29nobody
any of them can interfere with the other ones. – cg909 Mar 13 '17 at 2:56