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From: RodMcKay on 26 Mar 2010 15:47
On Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:17:37 GMT, Stefan Patric <not(a)thisaddress.com>
wrote:

>On Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:35:37 -0500, RodMcKay wrote:
>
>> In all the trialing I've been doing, going to root is as easy as typing
>> in root so far in the terminal (in the LiveCDs). To have even better
>> security, can you set a password for root so that nothing is done by any
>> program, etc., without that one specific password? In other words, can
>> the generic password of root, or whatever it is (I'm going by memory
>> here) still be used even if you've set a password - which I'm assuming
>> can be set when installing Linux?
>>
>> I just thought that would be a great thing and I'm sure it's possible,
>> it's just good to check with the experts when trying out something new.
>> thx.
>
>Yes. When you initially install a distro, it will ask you to enter the
>root password. If you've already installed and want to change the root
>password, you can, but you have to be root to do it. man passwd for more
>info.
>
>As far as changing one's own user password, some distros permit this;
>others allow only root or a superuser to change passwords.
>
>If you change the root password for a LiveCD distro running as a LiveCD,
>that is, it's not installed on the hard drive, the "generic" password is
>no longer valid. However, this situation will only last for that
>session. When you reboot the LiveCD all the changes you've made
>disappear, and the original root password and settings return. However,
>there are a couple of Live distros, that permit saving changes on the
>hard drive. So, that a new LiveCD session "remembers" what you changed,
>added, etc.
>
>If I understand you correctly, you want to be able to password protect an
>individual app's access to the system or restrict its use to only certain
>users. Yes. This can be done.
>
>Check out SELinux, if you're really security paranoid. Here's a basic
>overview:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security-Enhanced_Linux
>
>
>Stef

Thank you, Stef. A very clear explanation. Much appreciated. :)

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