[ale] Linux Distributions

[Jim Popovitch]

On Tue, 2005-05-17 at 13:56 -0400, George Carless wrote:
>
> Why would you want to run a desktop as root?  

Quite simply so that I don't have to configure a thousand things in
sudo, /dev, /proc, etc.   I like to bring up my network interfaces,
configure iptables on the fly, change MTU, mount partitions, reformat
temp space, access /dev/audio, /dev/dvd, /dev/midi0, etc.   What's the
difference between giving a user access to everything vs running as
root? 

> This is just asking for trouble.  

HOW SO?   Everyone says this, nobody every follows through with
specifics.

> Unless you're going to spend the time with a fine-tooth comb 
> to audit every piece of software that you run,

No need to audit software that you trust.  The fine tooth comb is needed
to set EVERYTHING up for a normal user to have access to gratuitous
system resources needed by everyday apps (iPODs, dvd burners, video
games, advanced sound card features (midi, etc).

> there's no rationale for running as root.  

Sure there is.  You may not see it however.

> Become root - or sudo - when you need to; the rest of 
> the time, don't.  Otherwise, running as root without problems is just a 
> matter of luck.  How you have things configured really doesn't make too 
> much difference when a sleep-deprived session leads you to inadvertently 

What's the difference between "sudo mkfs /dev/hda8" and runing
"mkfs /dev/hda8" as root?   

-Jim P.