Is swapping accounts without swapping home directories a good idea?

Is creating a new user, switching my old user’s name to an new one, and then switching my new user’s username to my original one, without changing the home directories too, a good idea?
Just trying to make sure I don’t destroy my entire PC or both accounts.

I will be making a new user using the Settings menu named oxek, then i do this:
usermod -l kxeo2 kxeo
usermod -l kxeo oxek


garuda-inxi:

System:
Kernel: 6.8.9-zen1-2-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.1.1
clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=cd554b12-50c1-4d21-8dc3-75e81b1e0163 rw rootflags=subvol=@
quiet quiet rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0 loglevel=3
intel_iommu=on iommu=pt ibt=off
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.0.4 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.1.0
wm: kwin_x11 vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: HP product: HP ZBook 17 G3 v: N/A
serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: HP model: 80D6 v: KBC Version 10.75 serial: <superuser required>
part-nu: 1MY26EC#ABA uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: HP v: N81 Ver. 01.45
date: 01/06/2020
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 64.5 Wh (83.9%) condition: 76.9/76.9 Wh (100.0%)
volts: 12.9 min: 11.4 model: Hewlett-Packard Primary type: Li-ion
serial: <filter> status: charging
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i5-6440HQ bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Skylake-S
gen: core 6 level: v3 note: check built: 2015 process: Intel 14nm family: 6
model-id: 0x5E (94) stepping: 3 microcode: 0xF0
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 256 KiB
desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 6 MiB
desc: 1x6 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 2725 high: 2814 min/max: 800/3500 scaling:
driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 2572 2: 2814 3: 2807
4: 2708 bogomips: 20799
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 530 vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: i915
v: kernel arch: Gen-9 process: Intel 14n built: 2015-16 ports: active: eDP-1
empty: DP-1, DP-2, DP-3, HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2, HDMI-A-3 bus-ID: 00:02.0
chip-ID: 8086:191b class-ID: 0300
Device-2: NVIDIA GM204GLM [Quadro M3000M] vendor: Hewlett-Packard
driver: nvidia v: 550.78 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 545.xx+
status: current (as of 2024-04; EOL~2026-12-xx) arch: Maxwell code: GMxxx
process: TSMC 28nm built: 2014-2019 pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16
link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s ports: active: none empty: DP-4,DP-5,DP-6
bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:13fa class-ID: 0300
Device-3: Cheng Uei Precision Industry (Foxlink) HP HD Camera
driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0
bus-ID: 1-7:2 chip-ID: 05c8:0383 class-ID: 0e02
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6
compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: nouveau
alternate: fbdev,intel,nv,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0
screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22")
s-diag: 582mm (22.93")
Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: ChiMei InnoLux 0x1738 built: 2015 res: 1920x1080
hz: 60 dpi: 128 gamma: 1.2 size: 381x214mm (15x8.43") diag: 437mm (17.2")
ratio: 16:9 modes: 1920x1080
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0
drv: nvidia device: 2 drv: iris device: 3 drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia
surfaceless: drv: nvidia x11: drv: iris inactive: wayland,device-1
API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.0.6-arch1.2
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 530 (SKL GT2)
device-ID: 8086:191b memory: 15.14 GiB unified: yes
API: Vulkan v: 1.3.279 layers: 14 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu
name: Intel HD Graphics 530 (SKL GT2) driver: mesa intel v: 24.0.6-arch1.2
device-ID: 8086:191b surfaces: xcb,xlib device: 1 type: discrete-gpu
name: Quadro M3000M driver: nvidia v: 550.78 device-ID: 10de:13fa
surfaces: xcb,xlib device: 2 type: cpu name: llvmpipe (LLVM 17.0.6 256
bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 24.0.6-arch1.2 (LLVM 17.0.6)
device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: xcb,xlib
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio
vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
alternate: snd_soc_avs bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a170 class-ID: 0403
Device-2: NVIDIA GM204 High Definition Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0fbb class-ID: 0403
API: ALSA v: k6.8.9-zen1-2-zen status: kernel-api with: aoss
type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.6 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-LM vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: e1000e
v: kernel port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6 chip-ID: 8086:15b7 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp0s31f6 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Intel Wireless 8260 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:24f3 class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
IF-ID-1: virbr0 state: down mac: <filter>
Info: services: NetworkManager, smbd, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB
rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-12:4 chip-ID: 8087:0a2b
class-ID: e001
Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 4.2
lmp-v: 8 status: discoverable: no pairing: no class-ID: 6c010c
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 1.14 TiB used: 459.95 GiB (39.3%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: SanDisk model: THNSN5256GPUK
NVMe TOSHIBA 256GB size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
fw-rev: 5KDA4103 temp: 34.9 C scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: HGST (Hitachi) model: HTS721010A9E630
size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
tech: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> fw-rev: A3T0 scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 237.97 GiB size: 237.97 GiB (100.00%)
used: 77.49 GiB (32.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 513 MiB size: 512 MiB (99.80%)
used: 262.7 MiB (51.3%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
ID-3: /home raw-size: 931.51 GiB size: 931.51 GiB (100.00%)
used: 382.21 GiB (41.0%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 237.97 GiB size: 237.97 GiB (100.00%)
used: 77.49 GiB (32.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 237.97 GiB size: 237.97 GiB (100.00%)
used: 77.49 GiB (32.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 15.5 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
comp: zstd avail: lzo,lzo-rle,lz4,lz4hc,842 max-streams: 4 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 47.0 C pch: 43.5 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
Memory: total: 16 GiB available: 15.5 GiB used: 4.43 GiB (28.6%)
Processes: 253 Power: uptime: 16m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
suspend, test_resume image: 6.14 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 255 default: graphical
tool: systemctl
Packages: 2393 pm: dpkg pkgs: 0 pm: pacman pkgs: 2350 libs: 592
tools: octopi,paru,yay pm: flatpak pkgs: 43 Compilers: clang: 17.0.6
gcc: 14.1.1 Shell: garuda-inxi default: Bash v: 5.2.26 running-in: konsole
inxi: 3.3.34
Garuda (2.6.26-1):
System install date:     2023-07-21
Last full system update: 2024-05-08
Is partially upgraded:   Yes
Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager dracut(custom) nvidia-dkms
Windows dual boot:       No/Undetected
Failed units:            filtron.service morty.service

Personally, I’d want to take care of this exigent crap first.

As far as your question, which witch is which? (I don’t understand your logic or methodology.)

2 Likes
2 Likes

Alrighty. So then, here’s what I’m thinking might or will happen:
If I make a new user, and change the old user’s username to a new username, and change the new user’s username to the one I once had, then the home directory may actually be fooled into thinking that the new user is the old user.

Oh, and as for the partially upgraded thing, I dunno what’s going on there. Doesn’t seem like I can fix that.

There are more things to change

cat /etc/passwd

New user got 1001 old user is 1000
Same for shadow.

In the end, IDK what you want to try.
First, fix your system.

4 Likes

As it turns out I had to go to the Garuda Assistant to finally do a full upgrade.

Now then. After searching it up I found that the directory I had to change for shadow, was /etc/shadow. So I swapped the names there. Just as I did in /etc/passwd. Everything is working fine.

(I also decided to use a Zero-width joiner in order to change the colour of the profile picture to blue. Adding 3 of them turned it purple but it looked just a little too light to fit in. And thus, why I used blue.)

(Wait, should I mark the post ABOVE me as the solution or this post?)
(Probably above.)

This topic was automatically closed 2 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.