can't run gnome as root - addition - SOLVED

[Phil Dobbin]

compdoc wrote:

>>> why do i have to adapt the OS ? I think the OS should adapt
>> to the needs and wishes of the user as far as possible.
> 
> Security needs change. 'root' is a well-known username so if its enabled and
> there's direct access from the web, it gives someone half the combination:
> they only have to guess at passwords rather than guessing at a username and
> password. 
> 
> All my servers are behind firewalls and there are no ports open to the world
> like ssh, which does give some protection. I used to enable the root account
> myself, but sudo is second nature now and no trouble at all. 

The trick is to disable root login & only login as a user (I'm talking
about ssh here). Also, there are simple firewalls rules you can set that
if somebody tries to login with the incorrect password three times in a
specified time limit, ssh automatically drops the connection from that
IP address (you can also send the most repeat offending IP addresses to
a table to be stored for later reference so they only get one chance
before being dropped).

Oh, & a random, 16 character, alpha-numeric, upper/lower case password
helps too :-)

Cheers,

  Phil...

-- 
currently (ab)using
CentOS 6.3, Debian Squeeze, Fedora Beefy, OS X Snow Leopard, Ubuntu Precise


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