I've found a bug or limitation in setting passwords for users including root. I set a strong password something along the lines of !W@Q#E$R2w3e1q4r. When I set the password i was able to login as root without a password and the users with the strong password were simply not allowed to view shares.

 

I am able to set strong passwords like this in Ubuntu and Ubuntu Server.

 

Is this a slackware limitation or something?

Have a look here for an explanation for this behaviour

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=974.0

Short answer: can't use these characters in a password: | & ; ( ) < > space tab ; $ # * @

 

Long answer: the System Management Utility uses a bash shell to set the system password (using chpasswd command) and the samba password (using the smbpasswd command).  The above characters have special meaning to the shell.  The one you hit on, # (hash), means to "ignore all remaining text on the line", which caused the behavior you saw.

 

If you don't use system() and you use fork and exec with proper arguments set up, then I believe you do not have to worry about shell characters.

It takes more work to build an argument vector, fork, exec and parse the return code, but in the end it is safer and you do not use a shell.

Added to the FAQ here.  Feel free to edit or expand.