Root with GUI

[Rick Stevens]

On 04/15/2010 09:01 AM, R. G. Newbury wrote:
> On 04/15/2010 10:12 AM, users-request at lists.fedoraproject.org wrote:
>> From: "Dr. Michael J. Chudobiak"<mjc at avtechpulse.com>
>> Subject: Re: Root with GUI
>
>> On 04/15/2010 08:24 AM, Richard Shaw wrote:
>>>>   On Thu, Apr 15, 2010 at 7:21 AM,<hewjr1000 at gmail.com>    wrote:
>>>>>>   How do I make myself root in the GUI
>
>>>>   Running a root GUI login is very much frowned upon.
>
> You forgot the stage directions: "Folds arms across chest, wags finger
> at suitably cowed and humiliated user.."

Oh, come now!

> It's 'frowned upon' by religious zealots who wish to impose their 'the
> sky could fall' fears upon everyone. A***oles piss me off.

Those who accuse people who caution against this very ill-advised
practice "religious zealots" or "A***oles" certainly demonstrate their
massive experience and maturity, don't they?

In my 35 years of being in this business, I've had to support a large
number of Linux, BSD and SYSV systems in the hands of former Windows
users (and others with similar brain damage).  I can say from
experience that a root-based GUI is a very dangerous thing and those
who claim otherwise either haven't supported large numbers of neophyte
users or have been extraordinarily fortunate to have escaped unscathed.

It so very much easier to damage a system from the GUI than from a
command line.  A single icon click or "Proceed" click can run literally
tens or hundreds of CLI commands.  As root, there's no restriction on
what's run.  Brilliant!  The ramifications can be (and have been)
devastating in my experience.  This is specifically why root-based GUIs
have been disabled by default.

All that being said, if one is a godlike user and/or is willing to
deal with the carnage that can (note I said _can_) ensue with root-
based GUIs, then by all means edit the pam files and have at it.  No
one is stopping you.

However, one shouldn't call people who take a more conservative and
safer route (often based on past experience) derogatory names.

(getting off my soap box)  I'm done with this thread.
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- Rick Stevens, Systems Engineer, C2 Hosting          ricks at nerd.com -
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