Re: can't get Iceweasel to work on my laptop
On 03/04/12 20:44, Hannu Virtanen wrote:
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Scott Ferguson <prettyfly.productions@gmail.com>
>
> -hv said:
>
>>> I think that you need to get root password.
>>> You maybe better to reinstall the whole thing
>
> Scott Ferguson said:
>
> *If* Tina had the root password she wouldn't need to rebuild everything.
>
> -------------
>
> Yes I agree. *If* Tina had the root password, she could probably fix it quite easily.�
> But now she doesn't have it.
>
> So maybe best to reinstall everything.
Maybe - but without hearing from Tina we're just guessing. And a
scenario where reinstalling "fixes things" requires a lot of guessing.
Guessing that either Tina doesn't have anything to back up, or does and
has somewhere to backup to (and knows how to perform backups).
Guessing that Tina knows how to install and configure GNU/Linux on that
laptop - and has both the time and the motivation.
Certainly I don't know how long she's had the laptop, or why she can't
either get support or the root password from the system builder.
>
> I think that it is not configured the right way.
That "appears" to be the case - though I suspect she either needs to
configure WPA(2) and/or needs the name of her local (home) network and a
password.
> And if she would reinstall everything wlan would start working.
Maybe. Big maybe. If the home network requires a password that she
doesn't currently know, then she still won't be able to connect.
> The machine seems not to be old or broken.
I'm guessing it's not broken. It's definitely not very old, and will
connect to most current wireless networks.
>
> And while reinstalling it she could give to it such a root password, which
> she would remember.
Perhaps.
>
> Somebody made a problem to give the machine away without giving
> the root password with it.
Maybe. Unless the client specifies needing the root password *and*
doesn't want a support contract - I don't give them the root password.
> It is difficult to configure it without knowing the root
> password.
No. Only if the user isn't in sudoers. That 'may' be the case but I'm
not certain of it yet.
(If I knew how to find the root password, I wouldn't tell it here.)
I hear that a lot - and it's always wrong.
Do you believe if you knew where the root password was (/etc/shadow) you
should keep it a secret so that no-one knew? Seriously?
What happens when you can't remember your password? Do you just
re-install? That might be OK if you never do any actual work, but what
about when that password is required for places where people do need
work? What happens when the sysadmin gets hit by a car? What happens
when the sysadmin can't remember the password? Someone with physical
acccess to the machine uses one of four methods to become root and
changes the root password. (or some with a nice exploit kit gains access
and elevates their privileges, in a happy land were unicorns romp in
chocolate meadows)
If you lose your door key do you build a new house? Do you think if I
tell you how to get into your house without a key I'll be encouraging
burglars?
>
> -hv
>
>
Kind regards
--
Iceweasel/Firefox/Chrome/Chromium/Iceape/IE extensions for finding
answers to questions about Debian:-
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/collections/Scott_Ferguson/debian/
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