Re: root login
> > True, but nowadays PC are just that: Personal Computers, and if a
> > hacker/trojan/virus breaks in, the only important thing on the disk is
> > the (only) user's data. He won't care about the system 'cause he can
> > reinstall it from scratch if need be. And no, 99% of them won't have
> > fresh backups handy.
> > To these users, root/user separation is just a bandaid to not hose the
> > system by accident, nothing more.
> >
> > Xav
>
> That's a bit of a narrow slant on things: you're ignoring universities,
> businesses and managed systems all over the place. The ability of users
> to change most settings/install random software/infect the machine with
> viruses is the bane of university systems-administrators everywhere.
> The fact that a system needs to be rebuilt from scratch whenever a user
> does something stupid causes more work for IT departments everywhere
> than is healthy.
On this vein, I (root process) make (automated) online multi-generation
backups of my critical files. They are backed up to a second hard drive
on the same machine. If I accidently blow away my personal stuff, there
is a root-owned read only (to me) copy available.
That kind of protection is NOT AVAILABLE if you are running as root all
the time. Of course I also have the luxury of having a DLT auto-changer
hanging off my home server that all my home machines get backed up with.
On the flip side, I have friends that never ever backup their files, run
as administrator or root (despite warnings to the contrary) and always
seem to be reloading their machines, fighting spy-ware, viruses, etc.
Just how many lessons do you need before you learn? My time is valuable
too. Why should I waste it restoring my system from scratch all the
time? It's SO much faster and easier just restoring personal files and
settings than the whole machine.
I wouldn't DARE run as root all the time, and there just is NOT a valid
reason to ever login as root on a regular basis other than sheer
laziness or incompetence. This entire thread is full of a bunch of crap
about baseless DESIRE but there has yet to be any real concrete reasons
as to the NEED for GDM level root login. The answer is obvious - there
ARE no reasons. They don't exist. All that exists is a juvenile urge to
buck the system and rebel against what everyone in the industry knows by
education or experience to be "the right thing."
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