Statler Default Users Setup. (Page 1 of 2)

I don't agree with this idea. I am what i would consider a power user. Which means i spent a good chunk of my time downloading new software, updating, and generally just doing things which need root access (even just editing certain config files).
In your setup, I'd either have to be logged in as a user, and then every time i want to make a small change which needs root, i'd have to switch users. Well that wouldn't happen (its a pain in the behind), so I'd be forced to run as root the entire time.

This is a happy medium. I am not root, and won't damage my system by mistake, and any programs that might try to get ahold of my computer are only users, however when i need root privileges, its a single command away.

I don't like the sudo-way too, but this is the reason why i keep using it instead of just log-in as root.

Personally I think  it would be nice if the change to Debian included conventional  user/root accounts but  don't think there will ever be agreement on sudo/root use. It really is not that important as it only takes seconds to change.

What you describe above is not the way most root users would work. As a user you would just need to open a terminal type su ( or sux for a graphical application) followed by root password do what you want then ctl +d and you are back as user all from your user desktop. sudo does not give any any more protection from damaging your system, it will be operator error either as root or sudo, no difference.

I don't have sux on my machine. Also by googling, Ive found that sux may just be a link to su.

@FiniteStateMachine - When you use su to change to a root shell yes it asks for root password. Also you can configure sudo to ask for the root password if you like.

"root" and "sudo" are nothing more or less than optional security tools. Whichever option is the default, some users will change it. sudo is an option available to all Debian users, so I don't know how you can say "sudo is not the Debian way." There are pros and cons to either method; saying that one is "better" than the other is a statement of opinion.

#! has always used sudo, so I am of the "ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality. I am so used to sudo from 2 years of heavy #! use that I don't even give it a second thought.

Just use Synaptic to search for applications,  sux is just a wrapper around su to run an x11 application as root.

Ok I thought maybe sux was included with su. I didn't know it was a separate application.

You can also do gksudo and instead use your password.

yes i forgot su lasted until you closed the terminal.
I guess su is useful if you have a lot of root commands you want to make.

sudo is great for multi-user systems. For example you can edit sudoers so your kid can install games with Synaptic or mount external drives, without giving him full access to edit system config files or mess with anything in your /home.

The problem with a separate root user on a multi-user system is there's no way to distinguish between Dick-being-root and Jane-being-root.

On a single-user, low-security system it's hardly a big deal. I switch back and forth between sudo (#!) and root (CentOS) all the time. Any alleged security benefit of one over the other is largely placebo effect, given that you can easily boot into recovery mode (as we recently discussed in another thread).

I don't know much about sudoers but if someone has root access to synaptic or external drives I would have thought there was plenty of scope for irreparably   damaging a system.

There is only one root on any multi user system, that is the whole point.

Recovery mode as far as I understand it just allows various editing options to find a kernel to boot and will then boot into a login, it doesn't bypass the login.

I'm ambivalent about sudo or not sudo but I like root setup during installation. Mint has a curious behaviour of setting up the user during installation as a user with sudo and also the root account with the same password. It mimics the behaviour I would normally setup on my personal systems but I'm not so sure that it should be forced upon someone without a choice. I assume that many would prefer a better security model of a different password for root. Then again, changing the root password after installation is a fairly simple process for those with higher security needs.

I THINK you can change the default behavior by changing the alternative for 'libgksu-gconf-defaults'.

a.