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Wheel (computing)
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<h2 id="origins">Origins</h2> <p>The term <i>wheel</i> was first applied to computer user privilege levels after the introduction of the <a href="/facts/TENEX_(operating_system)/n4T9rBAy">TENEX</a> <a href="/facts/Operating_system/8XTuvMh2">operating system</a>, later distributed under the name <a href="/facts/TOPS-20/uBCxEqk9">TOPS-20</a> in the 1960s and early 1970s.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> The term was derived from the slang phrase <i>big wheel</i>, referring to a person with great power or influence.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p><p>In the 1980s, the term was imported into <a href="/facts/Unix/0pNL2seI">Unix</a> culture due to the migration of operating system developers and users from TENEX/TOPS-20 to Unix.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="wheel-group">Wheel group</h2> <p>Modern Unix systems generally use <a href="/facts/Group_identifier_(Unix)/23lndCN4">user groups</a> as a <a href="/facts/Security_(computers)/7E5dIy7G">security</a> protocol to control access privileges. The <i>wheel</i> group is a special user group used on some Unix systems, mostly <a href="/facts/Berkeley_Software_Distribution/XQKcURrh">BSD</a> systems, to control access to the <a href="/facts/Su_(Unix)/doJ74AIv">su</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> or <a href="/facts/Sudo_(Unix)/7jhmGdqg">sudo</a> command, which allows a user to masquerade as another user (usually the <a href="/facts/Superuser/0Brr6ol7">super user</a>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> Debian and its derivatives create a group called sudo with purpose similar to that of a <i>wheel</i> group.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="wheel-war">Wheel war</h2> <p>The phrase wheel war, which originated at <a href="/facts/Stanford_University/JEQeF9z2">Stanford University</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> is a term used in <a href="/facts/Computer_culture/3Eyhakbn">computer culture</a>, first documented in the 1983 version of <a href="/facts/The_Jargon_File/tt0EIKfV">The Jargon File</a>. A 'wheel war' was a user conflict in a <a href="/facts/Multi-user/XeKcRNjA">multi-user</a> (<i>see also: <a href="/facts/Multiseat_configuration/tBW9b2w1">multiseat</a></i>) computer system, in which students with <a href="/facts/Privilege_(computing)/7eS1wna4">administrative privileges</a> would attempt to lock each other out of a university's computer system, sometimes causing unintentional harm to other users.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Superuser/0Brr6ol7">Superuser</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Wheel". Jargon File 4.4.7. Eric S. Raymond. Retrieved 2017-04-22. <a href="http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel.html" target="_blank">http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Wheel bit". Jargon File 4.4.7. Eric S. Raymond. Retrieved 2017-04-22. <a href="http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel-bit.html" target="_blank">http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel-bit.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Wheel bit". Jargon File 4.4.7. Eric S. Raymond. Retrieved 2017-04-22. <a href="http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel-bit.html" target="_blank">http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel-bit.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"TWENEX". Jargon File 4.4.7. Eric S. Raymond. Retrieved 2008-09-12. <a href="http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/T/TWENEX.html" target="_blank">http://catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/T/TWENEX.html</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Wheel". Jargon File 4.4.7. Eric S. Raymond. Retrieved 2017-04-22. <a href="http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel.html" target="_blank">http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Wheel bit". Jargon File 4.4.7. Eric S. Raymond. Retrieved 2017-04-22. <a href="http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel-bit.html" target="_blank">http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel-bit.html</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"su(1) - OpenBSD manual pages". man.openbsd.org. Retrieved 2018-05-05. <a href="https://man.openbsd.org/su" target="_blank">https://man.openbsd.org/su</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"su". www.freebsd.org. Retrieved 2018-05-05. <a href="https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=su&apropos=0&sektion=0&manpath=FreeBSD+11.1-RELEASE+and+Ports&arch=default&format=html" target="_blank">https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=su&apropos=0&sektion=0&manpath=FreeBSD+11.1-RELEASE+and+Ports&arch=default&format=html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Wheel". Jargon File 4.4.7. Eric S. Raymond. Retrieved 2017-04-22. <a href="http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel.html" target="_blank">http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel.html</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"Wheel bit". Jargon File 4.4.7. Eric S. Raymond. Retrieved 2017-04-22. <a href="http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel-bit.html" target="_blank">http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/W/wheel-bit.html</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Levi, Bozidar (2002). UNIX Administration: A Comprehensive Sourcebook for Effective Systems and Network Management. CRC Press. p. 207. ISBN 0-8493-1351-1. <a href="0-8493-1351-1" target="_blank">0-8493-1351-1</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>"Why is Debian not creating the 'wheel' group by default?". Unix & Linux Stack Exchange. Retrieved 2024-04-08. <a href="https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/4460/why-is-debian-not-creating-the-wheel-group-by-default" target="_blank">https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/4460/why-is-debian-not-creating-the-wheel-group-by-default</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Raymond; et al. "Jargon File". Jargon File 2.1.1. Eric S. Raymond. Retrieved 2016-08-15. <a href="http://jargon-file.org/archive/jargon-2.1.1.dos.txt" target="_blank">http://jargon-file.org/archive/jargon-2.1.1.dos.txt</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Steele; et al. "Jargon File". Jargon File 1.5.0. Retrieved 2016-08-15. <a href="http://jargon-file.org/archive/jargon-1.5.0.dos.txt" target="_blank">http://jargon-file.org/archive/jargon-1.5.0.dos.txt</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>