--- Begin Message ---
On Thu, Nov 15, 2001 at 09:21:35PM +0200, Ian Balchin wrote:
> Hi, all,
>
> Brenda told me not to go into root so I have tried to obey her
> commands. I did go into root & change the permissions of the
> various files so that I can work with them logged in as 'ian'.
> Have copied them all as .old so can restore to original state if
> the mess gets out of hand.
That's ok: spend most of your time as ian, and only become
root when you have to (just as you've done above). Then if
you make a mistake, you will most likely do it as ian, and
the repercussions will be much less. You will only (for
instance) wipe out all ian's files, instead of all the files
on the system. It would be a hassle, but at least you wouldn't
have to re-install the whole system and start from scratch.
> I have got a coloured prompt now. Blue for ian, red for root.
Hmm, not sure I recommend coloring your root prompt.
The root prompt is already different: it has a # instead
of a $ or %. Try not to customize your root account too much.
The reason is that if you break your user login files or otherwise
mess up the system, you will have to log in as root to fix
things. Make the root account dependent on as few extras
as possible, and you will be able to log in to it even though
many things are broken. From there you will be able to
repair the system. The root account is both the "super-user,
I can do anything, bwa-ha-ha-ha" and the emergency tool kit
for desperate situations.
> However I have a few hassles that I must sort out first as it is
> not going exactly as per plan. Maybe I have to do the other files
> as per the Config-HOWTO, or check my deviations from his plan.
> Main problem is that to get the coloured prompt for root i have to
> 'source profile' and then having done that the shell cannot find
> any of its commands - even shutdown disappears! Have to 'exit' out
> and relog in to a black and white prompt to shutdown.
You might be setting the path, and therefore removing all the
existing path, resulting in the shell not being able to find
the commands. If you can't find the problem, you could
post your profiles and bashrcs and we'll try to find the
problem.
> As far as joe is concerned, i wanted to get the top menu in colour
> so as to get away from the white on black image and make it look
> brighter. Not to worry at the moment, maybe a joe user will come
> around just now, and can always query one of the locals. In any
> case am using vi to write the config changes.
Good move, vi is one of the things that is available on the most
stripped-down unixes (ie, you'll need to know vi if you ever
break your system and have to repair it, see above).
> I have a few more config. tasks to complete and will then be
> looking at installing dial-up email access.
>
> Will be off the list for a few days, but really appreciate the
> help so far, even if your email appears unanswered all are read,
> digested, and appreciated
No problem. I also attend to the list in a bursty way.
(am away for a couple of days at a time)
By the way, wrt bashrc and profile files, I might have said that
the shell sources both the $HOME/.bashrc and the $HOME/.bash_profile
file. I guess I was wrong, it does one or the other, and you
do have to source the .bashrc from the .bash_profile to get the
.bashrc stuff to execute in your login shell.
I was assuming that bash and cshrc are more alike than they really
are. Sorry for the confusion.
--
bjb@achilles.net
Consider registering as a bone marrow donor
http://www.bloodservices.ca/english/ubmdr
--- End Message ---