apt & sudo question

[Derek Broughton]

On Monday 16 May 2005 19:35, jeff wrote:
> On Mon, 16 May 2005 13:55:10 -0300
>
> Derek Broughton <auspex at pointerstop.ca> wrote:
> > You've lost me.  "sudo" eliminates the need for a root passwd.
>
> With my current setup sudo asks for "user" password at least once
> after booting and then allows root access.  What I want is access
> to root without the need for any passwords.  Possibly there is a
> way to do this with sudo?

Sorry.  I'm not going there.  You are entitled to do silly things if you want, 
but I don't have to help you.  Security exists for a reason - because people 
have a tendency to do things they shouldn't.
>
> > I shudder to think what might
> > happen when you go editing the password files.
>
> I edit the password files quite often.  The fields are separated
> by ":" and eliminating the second value will eliminate the use
> of passwords on most systems.  I believe this is the default state
> before any passwords are entered.  This works on RedHat, Mandrake,
> and Suse.  I've heard it also works on standard debian.

Yeah, it works.  But if you accidentally delete one of those delimiters while 
deleting passwords, you could end up unable to access your system.  It's much 
safer to stick with the tools provided for modifying those files (e.g., 
adduser, useradd, usermod, kuser, etc).
>
> > How can your computer not
> > have any security needs?  It's apparently on the Internet.
>
> Well.. we do dial up the net for batch transfers of email but in
> the last 15+ years, there have not been any problems with security.
> In any case, the need for security is decided by individual 
> users, and if they are not interested or worried then no need for
> security exists.

You're absolutely correct, but I maintain that it would be stupidity on my 
part to help you do something like this.  On your own head be it.  In the 
same time, _I've_ never had a problem with security either, but I take 
precautions to try to keep it that way.
>
> > "sudo" isn't a waste of time, since you _must_ be root to execute a
> > great many tools.
>
> Yes, many of my system control scripts switch to root for various
> reasons and some programs need root access.  The standard way to
> handle this is give programs root access permissions but that isn't
> of interest.

Again, you've lost me.  If you won't use "sudo" and you won't suid root, your 
only option is to log into the root account - sudo would be simpler.

> > Absolutely.  I've never actually used DVD snapshots, but I would expect
> > it to be identical to using a CD:
> >
> > My sources.list contains (on one line):
> > deb cdrom:[Kubuntu 5.04 _Hoary Hedgehog_ - Release i386 (20050407)]/
> > hoary main restricted
>
> Ah.. thanks.  That sounds like the answer.  Is the source list in
> a file that can be edited?

Yes - /etc/apt/sources.list.  Though, I'd agree with the other poster who 
pointed out that there's no guarantee of a smooth upgrade from Kubuntu to 
Sarge.  
-- 
derek