Hybrid user is the feature that allows coordination between a NetWare user account and a UnixWare user account. This feature allows a user to access or own the same files regardless of whether he or she logs in as a UnixWare user or as a NetWare user.
Without the hybrid feature, users with both NetWare and UnixWare accounts would lose access to files they create in either account while logged in with the other account. This is because NetWare has no knowledge of UnixWare user accounts and UnixWare has no knowledge of NetWare user accounts.
When UnixWare users log in and create files, they maintain rights to the files they create because they are the owner of the files. When NetWare users log in and create files, they maintain rights to the files because of trustee assignments. However, during the creation process, NetWare Services is required to assign a UnixWare owner to the file in order to store it on any type of UnixWare file system.
NetWare Services uses nwuser, or it uses nwroot if the user on a NetWare server is ADMIN or Supervisor. The hybrid feature solves this problem by mapping the NetWare account to the UnixWare account so that when a NetWare user creates a file, the UnixWare UID becomes the owner of the file.
When UnixWare users log in to a UnixWare user account, they are denied access to the files they created as NetWare users because nwuser owns those files; their UnixWare account does not.