03-24-2013
When a user logs into a UNIX system, the login name used is saved in a system database and in the environment variable LOGNAME. The file(s) containing the database where it is stored varies from system to system, but is likely to be in a file named something like utmp or utmpx in a directory like /var/run, /var/adm, or /etc. The name stored there should be used by who (not the 1st name in the user database [AKA the passwd file] with a matching UID). The name stored in the login database should also be used by the logname() function and the logname utility (both of which are explicitly NOT allowed to use $LOGNAME since any user can alter the value of $LOGNAME in the current shell execution environment). None of these should care how many different login names are associated with a given user ID.
None of this makes it a good idea to allow multiple user names for any user ID with extended privileges. But, I don't understand why the who or whoami utilities should be unable to determine what login name was used as long as the login session is still active. (They might fail if file descriptors 0, 1, and 2 have been disconnected from the controlling terminal, but they shouldn't make up a login name just based on the UID of the calling process.)
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utmpx(4) File Formats utmpx(4)
NAME
utmpx, wtmpx - utmpx and wtmpx database entry formats
SYNOPSIS
#include <utmpx.h>
/var/adm/utmpx
/var/adm/wtmpx
DESCRIPTION
The utmpx and wtmpx files are extended database files that have superseded the obsolete utmp and wtmp database files.
The utmpx database contains user access and accounting information for commands such as who(1), write(1), and login(1). The wtmpx database
contains the history of user access and accounting information for the utmpx database.
USAGE
Applications should not access these databases directly, but should use the functions described on the getutxent(3C) manual page to inter-
act with the utmpx and wtmpx databases to ensure that they are maintained consistently.
FILES
/var/adm/utmpx user access and adminstration information
/var/adm/wtmpx history of user access and adminstrative information
SEE ALSO
getutxent(3C), wait(3C)wait.h(3HEAD)
SunOS 5.10 22 Feb 1999 utmpx(4)