File permissions problem

[Verde Denim]

On Sat, Aug 16, 2008 at 7:27 PM, NoOp <glgxg at sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> On 08/16/2008 03:10 PM, Joep L. Blom wrote:
> > Ansgar Burchardt schreef:
> >> Hi,
> >>
> >> "David McNally" <david3333333 at gmail.com> writes:
> >>> I'm trying to be able to access and edit files that aren't in my home
> folder,
> >>> but the computer says that I don't have permission to access the files.
> >>>
> >>> I'm the only person that has ever used this computer.
> >>
> >> Files not in /home usually belong to root (the administration account),
> >> some belong to other system accounts.  On Ubuntu you can not directly
> >> log in as root, but you can use sudo to access the root account.
> >> See [1] for an explanation how to do this.
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >> Ansgar
> >>
> >> [1] https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo
> >>
> > login as root:
> > user$"su -"
> > passwd:"password"
> >
> > Then you are root. ( always make a root window in xterm.).
> > Joep
> >
> >
>
> Please don't advise an apparently new user to create a root account.
> It's not necessary, and can be dangerous for someone that is still
> learning how to edit non-home (root) files.
>
> @David: please read the page provided by Ansgar
> (https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo) so that you have an
> understanding of the sudo command. To edit your root configuration files
> from the standard text editor:
>
> From the terminal (Applications|Accessories|Terminal):
>
> gksu gedit <filename>
>
> (at the password prompt enter your standard user password)
>
> From the desktop:
> Alt-F2
> gksu gedit <filename>
>
> From Nautilus (the 'Places' file browser/manager)
> Alt-F2
> gksu nautilus
>
> (you are now in a 'sudo' mode of Nautilus, so you can click on file to
> open in the text editor. *Caution* in this mode you can also delete and
> modify critical system files and totally screw up your system - this is
> akin to being able to go into the Windows directory on Windows and
> modify or delete any files there, so use with caution if you do not know
> what you are doing!!).
>
> You can also install the Nautilus administrator add-on which enables you
> to have a menu option in your standard nautilus to edit a file in
> adminstrator mode. To install - open the terminal and enter:
>
> sudo apt-get install nautilus-gksu
>
> Log out and log back in. Now open Nautilus (Places) and go to the root
> configuration file that you wish to modify (example: /etc/hosts), right
> click the file and select 'Open as administrator', enter your password
> at the prompt. Nautilus will then open the file in the text editor in
> 'sudo' mode so that you can modify, change it, and save it. The text
> editor will also automatically create a backup file (/etc/hosts~) that
> you can go back to if you mess something up.


I would tend to agree with NoOp. New users to Ubuntu who want to modify
files which belong to configurations of the system or application
environments should be followed by "why do you want to (specifically)?" and
"what are you trying to accomplish?" . Simply put, the best (and worst)
attribute of any *NIX system has always been - You can do whatever you want;
but you need to know what you're doing. There are a good many files in the
system that you can modify and will only cause you headaches. There are a
number of others which will upset the system itself, which a new user will
find far less forgiving than a BSoD. Those of us who are more experienced
should predicate assistance with finding out the level of experience of
new(er) users, and should render assistance accordingly, if possible.

Jack

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