title: Are passwords on modern Unix/Linux systems still limited to 8 characters?
body: <p>Years ago it used to be the case that Unix passwords were limited to 8 characters, or that if you made the password longer than 8 characters the extra wouldn't make any difference.</p>
  
  <p>Is that still the case on most modern Unix/Linux systems?</p>
  
  <p>If so, around when did longer passwords become possible on most systems?</p>
  
  <p>Is there an easy way to tell if a given system supports longer passwords and if so, what the effective maximum (if any) would be?</p>
  
  <p>I've done some web searching on this topic and couldn't really find anything definitive; much of what came up was from the early 2000s when I think the 8 character limit was still common (or common enough to warrant sticking to that limit).</p>