NAME
fingerd - remote user information server

SYNOPSIS
/etc/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 program 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 finger(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.