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

[mtyoung]

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 at knology.net> 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
>
>