first off if i made this thread in the wrong section please excuse me.
I think title says it all, what can i do so i dont have to type root password everytime when i want to install new software or make some changes? there is really nobody else using my PC so i kinda dont need so much securety. i want to make my user acc. a root acc, is that possible ?
Yes, you really do need that kind of security.
Without that security, then at some time when you are not paying attention, somebody is going use that root access to mess up your system.
I can even tell you who that somebody will be. It will be you.
We all do dumb things from time to time. We make typos. Security limits the damage that our dumb mistakes cause.
On 12/07/2011 04:06 PM, pyroclastic wrote:
> i want to make my user acc. a root acc, is that possible?
possible, i do not know… what i do know is that you should never log
into KDE/Gnome/XFCE or any other *nix-like system’s graphical user
interface desktop environment as root…
doing so 1) opens you up to several different security problems if you
(for example) browse the net, 2) too many, far too easy ways to damage
your system no matter how careful your actions (for
example: well documented cases of unintended change of ownership of
~/.ICEauthority and ~/.Xauthority from user to root sometimes occurs),
3) anyway logging into KDE/etc as root is never required to
do any and all administrative duties, 4) and, not even logging in as
root just to see if it works as root is useful, because the “yes” or
“no” learned is almost always totally useless in finding the
problem giving the symptoms…while, logging into the GUI as root to
learn the yes/no could cause the next adverse symptom encountered.
so, always log in as yourself, and “become root” by using a root powered
application (like YaST, File Manager Superuser Mode) or using “su -”,
sudo, kdesu, or gnomesu in a terminal to launch whatever tool is needed
(like Kwrite to edit a config file)…read more on all that here:
http://tinyurl.com/593e4c
http://tinyurl.com/ydbwssh
http://tinyurl.com/6bo2cqg
http://tinyurl.com/4nsaqst
http://tinyurl.com/665h5ek
http://tinyurl.com/6ry6yd
additionally: after logging into KDE/Gnome/etc as root, if you
experience problems (for example, with uncommanded file ownership and
permissions changes) and if you can provide us with details of what you
were doing while you were logged in as root, that would help us identify
if there’s a bug that needs to be fixed…thanks for your help…
all of that plus, having two accounts helps protect your machine from
the kind of things (like key loggers, viruses, etc) that plague the
worlds most used desktop.
–
DD
openSUSE®, the “German Engineered Automobiles” of operating systems!
After i red your post i understood that it was bad idea to wish something like that, but hey if i didnt make this thread i wouldnt know it right ? ) so thank you DenverD.
On 12/07/2011 10:36 PM, pyroclastic wrote:
> After i red your post i understood that it was bad idea to wish
> something like that, but hey if i didnt make this thread i wouldnt know
> it right ? ) so thank you DenverD.
sure! i would MUCH rather you ask, and learn than not ask and murder
your system.
welcome. (anyway, it wasn’t a lot of trouble for me…i just copy and
pasted it in…have posted it so many times some folks find it
irritating [not sure why])
–
DD
openSUSE®, the “German Engineered Automobiles” of operating systems!
sure! i would MUCH rather you ask, and learn than not ask and murder
your system.
well i have it from my father 
he always said dont be afraid to ask.
have posted it so many times some folks find it
irritating [not sure why])
i think those peiple were not trying to learn something if you are irrtated during the lesson it means you dont want to learn.
On 2011-12-07 16:06, pyroclastic wrote:
> i want to make my user acc. a root acc, is that possible
> ?
No, that’s a Windows concept, where you can give any user administration
powers. Here there is only one user with that power and is called “root”.
Even in Windows it is not wise to give yourself those powers.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)
yo be honest if i was familier with suse as im with any windows, i would be really good at linux no mater suse ubuntu etc. but still i think win Adm. and root in linux are totaly diffrent things, i might be wrong, but i kinda feel that way. i never had windows installed with limited user on it, always was my acc as an admin, and never had the problem, but i agreed with denverD its beter to not change my acc to root acc. and the main reason why i wanted this to do is because after 12.1 release i was and i still am testing a lot suse, new soft etc, and at one point i was kinda sick of typing password again and again
but thanks for sharing info guys !
You are right; they are. Windows admin accounts still have limits on what they can do to the system (e.g., it won’t let you delete the registry). Root is all-powerful, and the system will not stop and ask you if you really want to do the stupid thing you just told it to do (e.g., rm -rf /).
On 2011-12-08 12:56, pyroclastic wrote:
> at one point i was kinda sick of typing password again and again
> but thanks for sharing info guys !
There are tricks. I keep one xterm on which I did “su -”, so I’m root there
and can call apps or commands I need to run as root without typing again
the password.
–
Cheers / Saludos,
Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)
On 12/08/2011 08:38 AM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
> On 2011-12-08 12:56, pyroclastic wrote:
>
>> at one point i was kinda sick of typing password again and again
>> but thanks for sharing info guys !
>
> There are tricks. I keep one xterm on which I did “su -”, so I’m root there
> and can call apps or commands I need to run as root without typing again
> the password.
The other way is to add to the sudoers list. For example, sudo /sbin/modprobe,
sudo /sbin/insmod, and sudo /sbin/rmmod can all be run on my system without
entering a root password.
You do realize that running Windows in an account with administrative rights is
one of the biggest security holes, and accounts for a great many viruses and
trojans.
You do realize that running Windows in an account with administrative rights is
one of the biggest security holes, and accounts for a great many viruses and
trojans.
yes im aware of it, but i kinda smel virus from far away and had no problems a long time. now im kinda not even using windows.
about my question to make normal acc as root acc, i decided to get use to that idea using root as i should.
you guys are really helped me out and i learn a lot. thank you guys
On 12/08/2011 12:56 PM, pyroclastic wrote:
> i was kinda sick of typing password again and again
the first time i open YaST Control Center i give the password, and then
leave the Control Center open until i next shutdown…
and, the first time i log into a terminal/konsole/xterm as root i just
leave it open also…
or, if i launch (for example) kwrite, file manager, whatever as root i
leave it open …
and . . .
i put all of those root powered things on the same desktop…
of course, i do exercise physical control of my machine (no one can
touch it, if it is running (and i’m awake)
–
DD http://tinyurl.com/DD-Caveat
openSUSE®, the “German Engineered Automobiles” of operating systems!
As it happens, I have a root xterm on my desktop right now, for a task I had to do shortly after bootup. And I intend leaving that open until I logout.
You can add another user manually with id=0, but the whole root/non-root concept will hopefully fade away with cgroups and other access control mechanisms.