>> Since there is so many risks of constantly using a root account, how
in the world are you supposed to get work done without being logged in
as root?? <<
I am a new user and am looking for a desktop alternative to Windows. I
have no interest in consoles, command lines, writing scripts, compiling
kernels, etc. I just want a solid system supporting a complete, useful,
and reasonably intuitive GUI that lets me do what I need to do and want
to do.
I am the sole user of my home/home office computer. My husband on rare
occasions might write an e-mail on the Windows side of the computer, but
he would have to be hog-tied to get him into the Mandrake 8 side.
After getting mightily annoyed at having to run "su" in a console or run
Super User file managers or give my root password time after time in
order to run Mandrake Control Center or other root-only utilities, I now
log in all the time as root. Before the geekoids on the list warn me of
my impending eternal damnation,<g> let me explain my reasoning:
I am the sole user. I am thus both root and judy (the only user). If I
want to do something that will affect the all-important system files,
I'm going to do it whether I'm logged in as user or root. So working as
user does nothing but make me jump through more hoops to do what I'm
going to do anyway. Why not avoid the hassle and work as root all the
time? One password per session and no consoles for "su"-ing, I can
unmount my Zip disks at will, I can deal with all files in all file
managers, I can edit what I need to, I can install programs without
problems.
See, these "security features" can't stay the way they are if Linux is
to attract even the Mac's share of the desktop market. Home business and
consumer users will react the way I did
and just get fed up and abandon Linux if they have to go through these
endless permissions, logins, and passwords to manage their systems. In a
home system, you're constantly installing or upgrading software or
making changes to your display or your hardware. Any consumer GUI has to
accommodate such usage, which is nothing at all like what a larger
network requires.
It seems to me that something could be incorporated into Linux desktops
to make them friendlier to SOHO and home users while maintaining some
system safety. For example, have a "super user" login that allows the
equivalent of root access, but throws up a warning message when the
root/user is about to make a change ordinarily reserved for
root--something like "You are about to change system files, which could
have bad consequences. Okay? Cancel?"
--Judy Miner
