password length default install

[Lowell Gilbert]

Dick Hoogendijk <dick at nagual.st> writes:

> What is the password lenght one may use at login? I didn't change the
> defaults on my fbsd-4.11 (login passwd md5 ??)
> 
> I remember linux had as default some eight chars or so. I want to use
> more chars for some accounts. Can I safely use 10-12 chars?

    DES passwords are limited to 8 characters (significant characters;
you can type away all you want, but only the first 8 characters affect
the result).
    MD5 can use considerably more (128, according to something out of
the mists of my memory, but I haven't checked).
    This is true on any OS that supports both.

See the "DES, MD5, and Crypt" section in the Handbook.