LinuxMonth: Sudo and other ways to avoid root!

Dec 10, 2000, 01:41 (0 Talkback[s])
(Other stories by William Stearns)

"It's time to admit my guilt. :-( For someone who can write an article on why you shouldn't be root, I'm still use it too much myself. Bit by bit, I'm finding ways to avoid it."

"When I first had my own Linux system, I learned early that most of the system setup tasks I need to do had to be done as root. Isn't it easier to log in as root and do all my work that way? It certainly was, and for a few months, I did exactly that. The problem was that I didn't know how to efficiently perform tasks as root without logging out and logging back in - ugh! Well, I've been using Linux for seven years and I've got a few techniques that I'd like to share."

"Here's the first mistake most people make; we start out running X Windows as the root user. Suddenly everything becomes simple; one has immediate access to all files, system administration tasks become easy, one can install new apps, etc."

Complete Story

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