Unified login? If only
Since we're officially a Windows shop at work (despite having several thousand clients who are using our linux distribution to run big multiuser machines), we, allegedly, get the benefits of having Microsoft-style unified logins everywhere.
In reality, it doesn't quite work that way. We have
- A login for logging into Windows boxes (but no roaming profiles, which kind of defeats the whole idea)
- A login for a web-based timesheet program
- A login for the other web-based timesheet program
- A login for our private webpages for employee information
- A login for our 401k program
- A login to get into our terminal server machines, so we can use a modembank to call up the customer boxes and diagnose things
- A login to get into the software version control machines
- And, of course, a dozen or so separate logins for the Unix machines
Half of these logins run on timers, so we need to change passwords for them every now and then. And none of the timers are the same, and some of the login timers don't warn you, but just pop up a your password has expired. Change it now message form.
And all of the timered password have some version of password security on them, so you can't pick good to remember passwords, but have to pick ones with letters, LETTERS, numbers, and punctuation (which end up being written on a card so you'll remember them, because if you don't the your password has expired. Change it now message will leave you with a system you can't get into because you're using a Mac-style keychain and don't remember the stupid meaningless password of the week.)