minix man page for fingerd

FINGERD(8)						      System Manager's Manual							FINGERD(8)

NAME
       fingerd, in.fingerd - remote user information server

SYNOPSIS
       finger stream tcp nowait nobody /usr/sbin/in.fingerd in.fingerd
       tcpd finger /usr/sbin/in.fingerd in.fingerd

DESCRIPTION
       Fingerd is a simple protocol based on RFC742 that provides an interface to the Name and Finger programs at several network sites.  The pro-
       gram is supposed to return a friendly, human-oriented status report on either the system at the moment or a  particular	person	in  depth.
       There is no required format and the protocol consists mostly of specifying a single ``command line''.

       Fingerd	listens for TCP requests at port 79.  Once connected it reads a single command line terminated by a <CRLF> which is passed to fin-
       ger(1).	Fingerd closes its connections as soon as the output is finished.

       If the line is null (i.e. just a <CRLF> is sent) then finger returns a ``default'' report that lists all people logged into the	system	at
       that moment.

       If  a  user  name  is  specified (e.g. eric<CRLF>) then the response lists more extended information for only that particular user, whether
       logged in or not.  Allowable ``names'' in the command line include both ``login names'' and ``user names''.  If a name  is  ambiguous,  all
       possible derivations are returned.

SEE ALSO
       finger(1).

BUGS
       Connecting directly to the server from a TIP or an equally narrow-minded TELNET-protocol user program can result in meaningless attempts at
       option negotiation being sent to the server, which will foul up the command line interpretation.  Fingerd should be taught  to  filter  out
       IAC's and perhaps even respond negatively (IAC WON'T) to all option commands received.

4.3 Berkeley Distribution					   May 23, 1986 							FINGERD(8)