> From: "Civileme" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > Are you folks who are complaining running as _root_?
> >
> > This is something not to be done, for many reasons, including the fact
> > that you get kicked from most IRC servers.
> >
>
> I find it arrogant that Mandrake would deliberatly cripple the functionality
> of programs in order to prohibit certain behavior that they have decided is
> inappropriate. This kind of "I know better than you" unwelcomed
> paternalistic coercion is awfully Microsoft-ish. Is this the direction
> Mandrake is heading? Yuck!
>
> Hoyt
The problem arises from the fact that Mandrake is trying to serve two
markets: servers and desktops. On servers, full multi-user mode is
needed, to protect the computer from itself, and from users who do not
know what they are doing. Server administrtors know to do admin
activities as root, and normal user activities as a normal user.
MS Windows, BeOS, MacOS... probably others, too, have no such distinction
between "admins" and "users" (Windows NT being the sole exception, but
even there, support in programs for multiple user accounts is sorely
lacking). All these operating systems are designed to be run where the
user has, at all times, full access to admin activities. People are used
to doing these, without having to deal with the concept of their current
"user id" (UID).
Mandrake is not being arrogant here. This has nothing to do with
crippling functionality, but rather with turning a multi-user operating
system into something resembling a "desktop OS." I think it's ineveitable
that these problems will arise. I don't know of a good way to solve it;
do you?
-Matt Stegman
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
