[ Thanks to newsmaster for this link.
]
“With users and user groups you can manage access permissions to
files, directories and for executing programs. This article
will explain in simple terms what the system of users is in Unix,
and give a practical guide to setting users up.”
“One of the greatest differences between Windows 95/NT and Unix
is that Unix has true different “users”. In a Unix system each user
can customise his or her working environment, and owns files and
directories that are separate from those of other users. In Windows
NT, “user profiles” provide only a part of this functionality and
do not allow for data separation. Furthermore, Unix systems are
multiuser: several users can access the system at the same time,
and machine resources are shared between them fairly, so each
user’s program or programs can be run.”
“Managing users with different permissions that are able to
access the system at the same time, is one of biggest advantages of
Unix systems. The flexibility of the management system is made even
better by the ability to have user groups. Even on your home PC,
where you are usually the only person using the machine, having
different users is very useful. Once you get accustomed to playing
the part of different users according to the tasks you need to
carry out, you will find it hard to live without it… on those
rare occasions that you have to reboot your PC with the old, boring
operating system.”