Re: Running as root ( was Re: Change Permissions (snip)..Problem Solved )

Peter,

Yes, I do realize the danger of being a root user. That's why I said
"logging in as root when needed".
Note that I immediately logged back in as a normal user after solving
the problem.
I found it easy to tell that I was in root, since the desktop was
completely different.

In the particular problem above, can you suggest a better way that I
could have solved the problem? I'm sure I'd learn something from it.

I searched for quite a while, and didn't find anything about how to fix
it. I finally had to come up with my own method.


MTYoung

Peter Garrett wrote:
On Tue, 09 Jan 2007 02:47:57 -0600
mtyoung <tuxman@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


I really don't understand why so many people think that logging in as root when needed is such a bad thing, although I can certainly see a better way to accomplish what I needed to do. See my other post "Vote for new Ubuntu Feature---Let's try it again".


I suggest that you ask yourself these questions:

"Why have UNIX permissions evolved as they have over the last 35 years or
so, and is there a reason that they exist in this form?"

"Why are successful attacks on UNIX and Linux systems less common
proportionally than those on Windows systems ?"

"Do I want to foster good habits, and use my system in a responsible way,
including not exposing other people on the Net to exploits that allow my
box to act as a base of operations for black hats?"

There are probably a few other questions of a similar kind that could be
asked, but these spring to mind...

Only you can decide, and of course you are free to configure your system
as you see fit. Ubuntu is Free Software in that sense, and, with
administrative privileges, you are free to make the wrong decisions on
your personal machine ;-)

Peter



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