[NCLUG] root/superuser pwd question

[Bob Proulx]

Brian Wood wrote:
> My problem with Ubuntu is not the way they set things up, but the fact
> that they don't even mention other possibilities.

Ubuntu is the new SuSE.  They are catering to the user who hasn't had
twenty years of unix experience.  Therefore by default they are trying
to make things simple.  Using sudo is a simple and effective way to
document and proceed.  You only need to know your one password for one
account.  You don't need to know two passwords for two accounts.  To
you and me that isn't any trouble at all.  But for many people being
introduced to the concept for the first time having two accounts is
twice as hard as having one and *for them* it is complicated.

> If I want to set a root password I should be able to, and I don't
> understand why they do not want to leave that decision up to the
> user.

But it *is* up to the user.  You can set a password just as you show.
Since you are an experienced user you have the knowledge to know that
you can set a password for the root account and then you can log in as
root using that password.  I say Go For It.

Personally I find that using 'sudo bash' is also a very simple way to
get to a root shell.  (Who needs 'sudo -s'? :-)  But I always set a
root password too.  I often use random character generated passwords
for this making them unguessable.  I almost never log in using
anything other than ssh rsa keys supported by the ssh-agent.

> If you had to depend on only their documentation you might believe
> it's not possible to get a root terminal.

I am actually not an Ubuntu fan so much but in this case I must say
that this is because the users like it that way.  It keeps things
simple.  This is their target audience.  If you don't feel the same
way then perhaps you are not an Ubuntu target audience?  I am not
either but I applaud their efforts just the same.

I watched a friend actually use the GNOME GUI on Ubuntu the other day
to do some system administration.  They were changing the hostname and
doing various other things.  It was extremely painful to watch, for me
who believes that the X Window System is only there to be able to
support a large number of character terminals.  Why didn't they simply
'ed /etc/hosts' directly and the same for the other files for changes
they needed to make?  I couldn't fathom it.  But they did what they
wanted to do and they actually *chose* to do it using the GUI in spite
of the fact that I know that they also knew $EDITOR quite well.  It is
sad to see a good unix mind waste away like that.  Very sad indeed. :-)

Bob