Is running as root bad?

Nkill · n00b Joined: 22 Apr 2003 Posts: 32

I running as root all the time bad?

handsomepete · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 2:29 am Post subject:

idl · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 2:38 am Post subject:

It can be...

I run as root all the time, don't even have a normal user account. I feel confident I have enough knowledge and experience to be able to run as root for normal use.
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nero · n00b Joined: 08 Aug 2002 Posts: 66

drexelslacker · n00b Joined: 01 May 2003 Posts: 7

Though some people might say running as root is no big deal, you'll find that most people, especially those who are unix/linux veterens, proclaim that you should never run as root for daily use. The only time I ever run as root is to do emerges and other system maintence. Even then, I usually use su instead of a normal root login. The reason for this was partially explained in an earlier post. If someone happens to find there way onto your system (since you're connected to the internet) it is much easier for them to take control and exploit your system (usually referred to as "rooting" the system). It's also bad from the "oh shit" standpoint. Occasionally, you wind up typing a rogue command at the shell prompt (think rm -rf /) and if you're root, you just blew away your whole system, a normal user could never do that. There are a plethora of other reasons, but I won't go into all of them here. You should look into adding a user account for yourself and anyone else using your system. The first post summed it up in one word. The naswer to your question: Yep.

DrexelSlacker

elzbal · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 3:15 am Post subject:

The generally accepted answer is that users should not run as root - there are too many opportunities to screw things up. What happens if my mouse slips in konqueror/nautilis and I accidentally move '/etc' into '/usr', or (even worse) '/usr' into '/opt'? Or I accidentally type a foolish command (i.e. 'rm -r *' when I am at '/', not at the '/root/mydocs/trash/' directory like I thought I was)? I myself do not run as root, even though I am the only individual on the machine.

As another poster suggested, if there are any security holes in user-run network applications (gaim, X, etc), and there will be holes, even if they haven't been found yet, then that provides an attacker an easy way into your system as 'root'. Running those as a user provides a bit of protection.

(Edited: Grammar)

aja · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 3:48 am Post subject:

Diezel · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 4:25 am Post subject:

My opinion is don't run as root, that way you wont have any small accidents. It's not a big deal to type su and your root password in a terminal to switch to root user.
Besides, for me it works great because all settings I make I make them in files never in gui.
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idl · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 4:31 am Post subject:

Krookednek · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 78

I wouldnt unless you trust yourself enough to not bork your entire system. I know I dont trust myself enough, because I know I have been saved a few times but not being logged in as root and actually realzing what I just typed

.
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hook · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 10:36 am Post subject:

let's see...

being root gives you power to do anything on your *NIX-box
being user enables you to use "only" the thing you need to

if you make a typo like "rm -rf / home/user/dir", you fucked up for good
if you make the same typo as a user you'd probably get a message telling you that you're not alowed to remove /

...i think that more or less sorts it ...but it's always your decision

me? i use su when i really need root access, and log as root only if i intend to use several consoles using root because i have to do something that requires a lot of time in root
plus i always use a long and complicated (to type) password for root access ...that'll prevent you (it did me) from logging automatically as root, after your install
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mvr_rennes · Apprentice Joined: 23 Oct 2002 Posts: 155

Put it simple, it's not bad... it's EVIL!! :evil:

(and plain stupid)
(To the ones who run as root, I don't mean to flame.)
My point is that if you have properly configured your system, you don't need to run as root. At most, you could add yourself as a sudoer for certain often-used commands, but again, typing su is not _that_ hard, is it?
Play it safe

M

Raoul_Duke · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 10:44 am Post subject:

What's actually the benifit of running as root 24/7.........not a flame, just don't understnd :?:

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jondkent · Apprentice Joined: 26 Jul 2002 Posts: 289 Location: London

I rarely ever su to root, even for emerging stuff and I only ever log in as root is the system has a problem. Tend to use sudo is I want to run something as root , mainly because I lazy and can't be bothered to run su -, enter passwd and then run command, sudo is easier.

Jon

pizen · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 1:14 pm Post subject:

When you su you should really use "su -" because it loads the user's environment like it was a normal login. This means you get dumped in the proper home directory and the environment variables are set up correctly (like adding /sbin to the $PATH for root).

elzbal · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 1:25 pm Post subject:

Raoul_Duke · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 6:23 pm Post subject:

Idd, also KDE gives the option to run konqueror as root

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BennyP · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 6:33 pm Post subject:

I run as a user for the simple reason that I'm waaay too careless to be running as root and i don't feel like reinstalling my whole system or wiping up some nasty mess on my gentoo box.
suing is a pain in the ass for sure, especially when you don't know how to do all that

MasonMouse · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 7:06 pm Post subject:

I run as root all the time because it's too much of a pain to administrate a system otherwise. You have to be constantly logging back in as root and trying to set up proper permissions for everything and trying to run GUI programs as root while you're logged in as a user is just a big pain in the tail. I've been doing this for *years* on many computers and have yet to ever have anything bad to happen. I'm sure people will reply "It's only a matter of time." Well, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before a hard drive fails or a power surge kills something or a poorly written program blows away a partition... I work on realities, not what-ifs.

I guess it all boils down to personal perference.

(This all assumes you're the only user on your system which has always been the case for me.)

pizen · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 7:28 pm Post subject:

Appropriate Chris Rock quotation for this thread.

idl · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 8:05 pm Post subject:

Jimbow · Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2003 8:30 pm Post subject:

When I started using Linux (many years ago) I tended to always run as root. I don't don't do that anymore. I do not believe anyone who says that they are smart enough/careful enough/experienced enough to always run as root. Every person I know who is smart or careful or experienced does not run as root.

I do agree with the complaint that it is a huge pain to have to "su -" and enter the root password every time I want to do something as root. There is a very easy solution for this problem. Emerge sudo. It lets you run programs as root. The default setup is to ask you for your user password the first time you use sudo. After that it will ask again after X minutes (15?) of not using sudo. I have mine set up so it never asks for the password.

To make my life even easier, I've added some aliases and functions in my .bashrc that envoke sudo automatically:

Ben2040 · Guru Joined: 07 May 2003 Posts: 445 Location: UK

Ben2040 · Guru Joined: 07 May 2003 Posts: 445 Location: UK

Genone · Posted: Fri Jun 06, 2003 8:47 pm Post subject: