Kiran Hampal Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Hi, I can login to root fine - but its not a listed user on the login box. How can I add it to the list? Thanks (Anyone who tells me to not login as root will be eaten alive.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 There's lots of posts about how to do this, I expect you didn't search? So, I did the search for you: https://mandrivausers.org/index.php?showtopic=66074 do as you wish if you want to login as root, but it's a stupid idea, and I have no idea why you want to do it. Just if you get problems later, you were warned and I doubt anyone will be very happy to help someone who ignored such warnings. But, have fun whilst it works ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiran Hampal Posted January 25, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Thanks, although I did to a search and nothing turned up. EDIT: seems most of the command are for KDE, and I have gnome. Also I can login as root, just want the added bonus of actually not having to type root out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neddie Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 Rather than saying "Anyone who tells me to not login as root will be eaten alive.", how about answering the questions, do you know that this is a bad idea? Do you understand why doing this is not recommended at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevJack Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 There's lots of posts about how to do this, I expect you didn't search? So, I did the search for you: https://mandrivausers.org/index.php?showtopic=66074 do as you wish if you want to login as root, but it's a stupid idea, and I have no idea why you want to do it. Just if you get problems later, you were warned and I doubt anyone will be very happy to help someone who ignored such warnings. But, have fun whilst it works ;) Ever since I began using Linux, which was roughly 5-6 years ago, I have always preferred to login as "root" and absolutely nobody is going to change my mind about it. It's called "freedom of choice" and the "Linux Police" will never get me to change my mind about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neddie Posted January 26, 2009 Report Share Posted January 26, 2009 It's called "freedom of choice" and the "Linux Police" will never get me to change my mind about it.Very funny post, RevJack, but I don't know whether the OP shares your obstinacy in the face of reason. That's why I asked, just to make sure that Kiran was indeed acting on "freedom of choice" and that he/she understood that it is dangerous and unnecessary. If that is understood, then of course he/she's free to do it (although we'd prefer it if he/she doesn't eat us alive....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tux99 Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 (edited) What's so bad about loging in as root, if you are experienced and know what you are doing? I wouldn't run any Internet related applications (web browser, skype, ...) and/or closed source and/or apps from an untrusted source as root, but other than that, logging in as a user is just a needless hassle. so what if the app you were running crashes the box because you ran it as root (hasn't happened to me since many years), we are not talking about mission critical enterprise systems here... Edited January 27, 2009 by tux99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reiver_Fluffi Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 That's why I asked, just to make sure that Kiran was indeed acting on "freedom of choice" and that he/she understood that it is dangerous and unnecessary. Dangerous and unnecessary for who? There are a number of contextual factors unique to each scenario that determine the implications (and their associated risks) of logging in as root through a gui. We know nothing of these factors in this situation, yet people feel the need to pre-judge and decide that is is dangerous, full stop :huh: . If anything, people can do as much damage with the command line ("rm -rf ./*" without the period), therefore the "danger" is based on user experience, not the interface! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 So, you advocate logging in daily as root then reiver? I expect not.....as you've been around long enough using Linux to know the risks of doing it. I'm not saying that you shouldn't, there are times when you need to login as root, but that is the reason why you set up normal, user accounts, because there is no need to login daily as root and remain logged in completing every single task you achieve as root. It's simply bad practice, and we should be informing people of good practice and how to use their machine securely than promote letting them login as root simply because they want to. Everyone who knows Linux, knows that there is su, gksu or kdesu for obtaining root privileges as and when you need them for particular applications, so that you don't have the whole system granted full root access to the system as and when it wants to. That makes it far easier to be infected with rootkits, or whatever else. Also, as well as the fact, that the command you pointed out would cause so much more damage on your system as root, than if a regular user tried it - since the regular user would not have privileges to use it at that level. This however, is one of many many posts here, and you can search this board, and this discussion will go on for ever and ever about the pros and cons of logging in as root, and people will still choose to do it. And that's up to them, if they so feel it fit's there requirements. But I'd rather people were educated to use the system correctly, than unsecurely and leaving themselves open to risk and problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neddie Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 We know nothing of these factors in this situation, yet people feel the need to pre-judge and decide that is is dangerous, full stopThat's why I asked, Reiver! That's why I said, we're not going to try and talk the OP out of it if they really do know what they're doing.I think it's fair to say that in general it's dangerous and unnecessary, but in the OP's case that may not matter. So that's why I didn't pre-judge them, but instead I asked to make sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reiver_Fluffi Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 So, you advocate logging in daily as root then reiver? I expect not..... No, but I have found times where logging into root has allowed me to get certain things done, with no significant risk (remember risk is a relative measure depending on the individals own risk preference). However. that is due to circumstances unique to me! My point was that everybody was quick to judge the O/P's practices without having a clue what the O/P was doing and trying to achieve it! We do not know that the O/P intends to log in as root daily, all we know is that he wants the option to log in as root. Everybody is too busy chastising the O/P rather than trying to see what logging as root is "enabling" for them and suggesting alternatives. Okay, so the last sentence of the original post isn't exactly filling us up with warm fuzzy feelings, but I thought we were capable of rising above it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Okay, so the last sentence of the original post isn't exactly filling us up with warm fuzzy feelings I don't wanna know what warm fuzzy feelings you get ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neddie Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Everybody is too busy chastising the O/P rather than trying to see what logging as root is "enabling" for them and suggesting alternatives.No, I think everyone is just busy answering your criticism. The noise to signal ratio is rising in this thread and it seems the OP has disappeared, so despite our questions we're not yet able to offer alternatives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiran Hampal Posted January 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 (edited) Hi there, Yes, I am fully aware of the risks of running as root. I login everyday as root, to get things done - I'm using Linux in this case for experimenting (servers etc), and to be frank, I couldn't care if Tux grew laser guns and destroyed my linux partition - it's easy enough to re-install. If I was using it for home/office purposes (eg documents) then I wouldn't log in as root, I have linux on other computers, one of which is a home intranet server, - and only touch root when absolutely necessary. Now I have to eat some forum members. ;) Edited January 27, 2009 by Kiran Hampal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reiver_Fluffi Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 (edited) No, I think everyone is just busy answering your criticism. Seriously neddie, I thought you were a bit more mature than that... Edited January 27, 2009 by Reiver_Fluffi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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