this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2023
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Linux

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[–] [email protected] 41 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Unless you disk was encrypted, you could have booted up a live distro and back up the files you needed (or even overwrite the shadow file to get a new password)

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

And maybe could still get them with testdisk 😁

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I really did try so many forensic and recovery tools after remembering my password but with no luck 😂

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I'm glad you tried! Stories of needless data loss really get to me 😹

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

In the late 90s I taught an intro course for folks who wanted to run *nix boxen (Solaris, IIRC). On the afternoon of the last day I had them swap places after lunch and gain root access to each others' machines. It was partly for root passwd recovery and other maintenance tasks, but also to demonstrate that physical access to the box was a serious issue.