Newbie trying to access SU in Ubuntu
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From: John Hasler on 17 Feb 2010 13:55 > Is it inherently safer to run commands as sudo root than after su'ing > to root? Just curious. WHat's the reason not to set a root password? The lack of a root password prevents new users from following their Windows habit and running as root at all times. -- John Hasler jhasler(a)newsguy.com Dancing Horse Hill Elmwood, WI USA
From: Robert Heller on 17 Feb 2010 15:37 At Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:37:38 +0000 (UTC) Rahul <nospam(a)nospam.invalid> wrote: > > John Hasler <jhasler(a)newsguy.com> wrote in > news:87wrydxiwi.fsf(a)thumper.dhh.gt.org: > > > Ubuntu configuration has no root password. However, you don't need it > > anyway. You can run commands as root by typing "sudo command" where > > "command" is the command you need to run as root and then responding > > with your own password. With this you can accomplish everything you > > could by logging in as root. Others have explained how to set a root > > password. Don't do it. > > > > Is it inherently safer to run commands as sudo root than after su'ing to > root? Just curious. WHat's the reason not to set a root password? The same reason wood stoves are not made out of wood or include seats... With sudo set up, there is no reason to ever log in as root. The Ubuntu people figured that if root had an actual password, newbies would log in as root and go web surfing or something. The war Ubuntu is setup, you cannot do that. Instead, anything that does need privilege requires the user to enter *his* (or her) password at a special prompt -- eg firing up a Terminal and doing 'sudo <mumble>' or launching a GUI app using gksudo or something like that. The way sudo is 'safer' in that it is a privilege-on-demand sort of thing: you do a privileged thing rarely and each time you enter a password. You won't be logged in at privileged state and do stuff that does not need privilege. This avoids accidents and what not. > -- Robert Heller -- 978-544-6933 Deepwoods Software -- Download the Model Railroad System http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Binaries for Linux and MS-Windows heller(a)deepsoft.com -- http://www.deepsoft.com/ModelRailroadSystem/
From: unruh on 17 Feb 2010 15:41 On 2010-02-17, Rahul <nospam(a)nospam.invalid> wrote: > John Hasler <jhasler(a)newsguy.com> wrote in > news:87wrydxiwi.fsf(a)thumper.dhh.gt.org: > >> Ubuntu configuration has no root password. However, you don't need it >> anyway. You can run commands as root by typing "sudo command" where >> "command" is the command you need to run as root and then responding >> with your own password. With this you can accomplish everything you >> could by logging in as root. Others have explained how to set a root >> password. Don't do it. >> > > Is it inherently safer to run commands as sudo root than after su'ing to > root? Just curious. WHat's the reason not to set a root password? > I presume that you CAN give root a password and log on as root. sudo passwd for example or sudo vi /etc/shadow and copy over your user password, and then log on as root and put in a real root password. Or do they nanny you so much as to make this impossible ( eg run a cron job every minute which checks if root has a password and zeros it out.)
From: unruh on 17 Feb 2010 15:43 On 2010-02-17, John Hasler <jhasler(a)newsguy.com> wrote: >> Is it inherently safer to run commands as sudo root than after su'ing >> to root? Just curious. WHat's the reason not to set a root password? > > The lack of a root password prevents new users from following their > Windows habit and running as root at all times. Sure. And if you unplug the computer, you cannot engage in lots of other bad habits. But then, is the purpose of a computer to lock you into obeying a set of rules, or for getting a job done. Education is a lot better than ankle-irons.
From: GangGreene on 17 Feb 2010 16:29
unruh wrote: > On 2010-02-17, Rahul <nospam(a)nospam.invalid> wrote: >> John Hasler <jhasler(a)newsguy.com> wrote in >> news:87wrydxiwi.fsf(a)thumper.dhh.gt.org: >> >>> Ubuntu configuration has no root password. However, you don't need it >>> anyway. You can run commands as root by typing "sudo command" where >>> "command" is the command you need to run as root and then responding >>> with your own password. With this you can accomplish everything you >>> could by logging in as root. Others have explained how to set a root >>> password. Don't do it. >>> >> >> Is it inherently safer to run commands as sudo root than after su'ing to >> root? Just curious. WHat's the reason not to set a root password? >> > > I presume that you CAN give root a password and log on as root. > > sudo passwd > for example or > sudo vi /etc/shadow > and copy over your user password, and then log on as root and put in a > real root password. Or do they nanny you so much as to make this > impossible ( eg run a cron job every minute which checks if root has a > password and zeros it out.) or My favorite ---> sudo sed -i 's|root:!:|root::|' /etc/shadow |