silly NOOB question - Login as root?

English Install/Boot/Login
1

here a silly NOOB question from this forums silliest, favorite NOOB:

Here I am cleaning up my desktop, too many little thingys that I’ve saved to desk that need to get sorted into folders… I like a clean desktop!
Then I see two Icons “Online Help” and “openSUSE” these are up in the top left of the screen and have a little gray lock next to them… I tried to delete them but they don’t want to let me…
So I looked into there properties…
and this and that…

Do I need to login as root to get them off my desktop?
I still have the warning “DO NOT LOGIN AS ROOT” ringing in my ears!

Should I deactivate WLAN before doing this?

2

I don´t really get your point here. You stated one thing right though: Do NEVER EVER login as root! (WLAN disabled or not, this applies to any case)
If you want to delete those icons (for whatever reason they might be locked) issue a ‘sudo rm -r <drag&drop-your-icons-here>’ in console. Plug roots pass and hit ENTER - the icons will be gone.

3

Thanks Man!

it worked, my desktop is looking nice and clean!
(those Icons where locked in when I installed OpenSUSE!?)

sudo rm -r <drag&drop-your-icons-here>

I need to learn some more of these commands!
(only problem is one needs them so seldom… )

to break it down…
sudo = admin
rm =
-r = delete

where do I find a list of commands for reference so I don’t have to come here for every silly question?

4

i have a personal policy to not delete stuff i don’t understand…

and, even when i decide to ‘delete’ usually actually i just MOVE it
somewhere else (so it can’t be found by other stuff which might
depend on it) then after some WEEKS of no ill effects i might actually
delete it…if i think i need the space (otherwise it just stays
hidden somewhere)…

a handy ‘somewhere’ is your “trash”…just fill that puppy up and
empty it with caution…

now, to MOVE something to the trash that is stubbornly not moving
unless root is doing it:

[this path might not be exactly the same on your system, so you may
have to hunt!]

Menu > System > File Manager

and look at the choices…at least one should have words something
like “Super User Mode” or “Root Mode”, open one of those (give your
root password when asked) and carefully navigate to YOUR home
directory (it will [probably] open in ROOT’s home…do NOT do
anything there…NOTHING!!!)

if opening in root’s home you will be in “/root” go UP the filesystem
tree to
/
and then to
/home
and then to
/home/[you]
then
/home/[you]/Desktop

and when you get there you should see an icon for your desktop
Trashcan (mine is named trash.desktop) do NOT mess with that!

to dump “Online Help” and “openSUSE” [are you SURE you wanna dump
them?] just right click on one, then from the popup menu select “Move
to Trash”

and repeat for the other…

CAUTION: there is a good chance that the root powered file manager
will look like the less powerful version you use often…so, do NOT
leave it open or you might accidentally do grave damage…CLOSE it as
soon as this one task is over…

see, another case where signing in as root is not required! (it never
is required, as far as i know)

–
palladium

5

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Welcome to the forums.

First, I don’t particularly agree with the use of the ‘-r’ switch from
TheMask as it means “recursive”. That won’t hurt if you hit a file but if
you accidentally stop on a directory you will nuke that entire directory
(a Bad Thing™).

So…

rm = remove

  • -r (remove recursively, as in go and kill everything from what I tell to
    remove down through the filesystem until there are no files or directories
    left underneath that point)

To find out about a command there are man (manual) pages. Use something
like the following:

man rm #tell you all about the ‘rm’ command

A better option may have been the ‘-f’ (force) switch for the ‘rm’
command, but as you’re starting out please use either with extreme caution.

Good luck.

Tester5000 wrote:
> Thanks Man!
>
> it worked, my desktop is looking nice and clean!
> (those Icons where locked in when I installed OpenSUSE!?)
>
>> sudo rm -r <drag&drop-your-icons-here>
>
> I need to learn some more of these commands!
> (only problem is one needs them so seldom… )
>
>
> to break it down…
> sudo = admin
> rm =
> -r = delete
>
>
> where do I find a list of commands for reference so I don’t have to
> come here for every silly question?
>
>
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6

First of all: No question is considered to be “silly” around here. Don´t beat yourself up for asking a question. A good place to start is man bash (issued in console).
And here is a great place to consider reading, too: The Linux Command Directory. You might wanna make yourself a large cup of coffee beforehand. :wink:

7

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Pshhh… I must disagree again! :wink:

Real geeks have large cups (gallon containers) of ice cream.

Good luck.

TheMask wrote:
> Tester Wrote:
>> where do I find a list of commands for reference so I don’t have to come
>> here for every silly question?
> First of all: No question is considered to be “silly” areound here.
> Don´t beat yourself up for asking a question. A good place to start is
> man bash (issued in console). And here is a great place to consider
> reading, too: ‘Linux Command Directory: Index’
> (http://www.oreillynet.com/linux/cmd/). You might wanna make yourself a
> large cup of coffee beforehand. :wink:
>
>
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8

> issue a ‘sudo rm -r <drag&drop-your-icons-here>’

i think i’ll just leave and let the real gurus carry the water…

–
palladium

9

You may experience problems with that method. If you now or soon experience strange behaviour, it’s because configuration is still being called from the Gnome config in the directory ~.gconf at boot time.

To fix any strange behavior do this:
Open a terminal and run this command:

gconf-editor

Then navigate to Apps → Nautilus → Desktop in the left hand panel. In the right hand panel, right click on the line “predefined_items_dir” and select to Edit Key. Change the “value” entry from

/usr/share/dist/desktop-files

to the simple string

""

Reboot – fixed

That’s the correct way to fix the issue from the outset, rather than by deleting the items – info for other users who happen onto this thread.

FFI see this bug report https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=438071

10

to dump “Online Help” and “openSUSE” [are you SURE you wanna dump them?] just right click on one, then from the popup menu select “Move to Trash”

Quite sure! They are links that I’ve got safe in my Browser tool bar!

but as you’re starting out please use either with extreme caution.

CAUTION is ma magic word - I’ll check in here before doing anything I’m not sure of :smiley: Thanx

First of all: No question is considered to be “silly” around here. Don´t beat yourself up for asking a question. A good place to start is man bash (issued in console).
And here is a great place to consider reading, too: The Linux Command Directory. You might wanna make yourself a large cup of coffee beforehand.

Thanks for your understanding!
Some questions do seem a little silly esp. when compared to some of the issues that I see being addressed here in the forum!
makes me feel like a teeny tiny little (the word plankton comes to mind) in the big pool filled with wales and sharks and those cool little colorful fishies.

11

PS: Ever have the feeling that your head is about to implode!?:wink:

12

And about root login: SDB:Login as root - openSUSE

Do not know why nobody above pointed you to that. There is more usefull to read in the SDB btw.

13

Thanx
I had found that page searching for a solution, right in the begining… the DO NOT LOGIN AS ROOT posted all over the page did put me off a bit!