Who uses sudo?

boris_ · 2008-09-06 09:04:14

I use sudo. Got used to it from Ubuntu days.

moljac024 · 2008-09-06 09:08:17

sudo is the dark side of permission gaining!

Rokixz · 2008-09-06 09:42:04

zyghom wrote:

I use sudo as I'm "post-ubuntu" guy

+1

Exitium · 2008-09-06 10:16:28

Rokixz wrote:

zyghom wrote:
I use sudo as I'm "post-ubuntu" guy
+1

And +1.

B-Con · 2008-09-06 10:49:34

Acecero wrote:

haxit wrote:
Well I am pleased to hear this. Many other people hate sudo :S
What's there to hate in a utility? If people don't like it, don't use it. It's simple.

I believe it's because some people think it can encourage poor security practices. Like granting wheel (or equivalent) groups NOPASSWD privileges for insecure tasks, absent-mindedly using sudo for tasks that do not require it (thus elevating permissions when one does not need to), or mismanaging the accepted paths for sudo.

Not that keeping a root console around and/or working mainly in one doesn't have some of the same problems.

sudo is a wonderful tool. If nothing else, it gets me sandwiches late at night when nothing else will. :-)

ruscook · 2008-09-06 12:55:30

boris_ wrote:

I use sudo. Got used to it from Ubuntu days.

+1
but if I'm gonna use a string of commands I'll use sudo -i to open a root shell.

Russ

b9anders · 2008-09-06 19:16:49

Army wrote:

I use sudo, when I only do short things with root rights. If I do more I switch to root completely. But please don't use
su
but
su -
You'll see the difference

What is the difference?

moljac024 · 2008-09-06 20:18:28

b9anders wrote:

Army wrote:
I use sudo, when I only do short things with root rights. If I do more I switch to root completely. But please don't use
su
but
su -
You'll see the difference
What is the difference?

It's not that big on Arch

Misfit138 · 2008-09-06 20:49:56

b9anders wrote:

What is the difference?

The default behavior of

su

is to maintain the current directory and the environmental variables of the original user (rather than switch to those of the new user).
It sometimes can be advantageous for a system administrator to use the shell account of an ordinary user rather than its own. In particular, occasionally the most efficient way to solve a user's problem is to log into that user's account in order to reproduce or debug the problem.

However, in many situations it is not desirable, or it can even be dangerous, for the root user to be operating from an ordinary user's shell account and with that account's environmental variables rather than from its own. While inadvertently using an ordinary user's shell account, root could install a program or make other changes to the system that would not have the same result as if they were made while using the root account. For instance, a program could be installed that could give the ordinary user power to accidentally damage the system or gain unauthorized access to certain data.

Thus, it is advisable that administrative users, as well as any other users that are authorized to use su (of which there should be very few, if any), acquire the habit of always following the su command with a space and then a hyphen. The hyphen has two effects: (1) it switches the current directory to the home directory of the new user (e.g., to /root in the case of the root user) and (2) it changes the environmental variables to those of the new user. That is, if the first argument to su is a hyphen, the current directory and environment will be changed to what would be expected if the new user had actually logged on to a new session (rather than just taking over an existing session).

Thus, administrators should generally use su as follows:

su -

An identical result is produced by adding the username root, i.e.,

su - root

Likewise, the same can be done for any other user, e.g., for a user named bob:

    su - bob

You may want to make an alias in your .bashrc to assign su to su -, especially if you're too lazy to type su - every time.

jb · 2008-09-07 03:45:51

Other than for s2ram, I just use su.

wirenik · 2008-09-07 05:57:53

When I was using Ubuntu they ALWAYS said "type sudo xyz into the terminal" or "run abc in bash" or "don't forget to add sudo to that!" so I got used to using sudo all the time. For heavy-duty system configuration and stuff I'll use su -, but that's pretty rare.

moljac024 · 2008-09-07 07:31:08

wirenik wrote:

When I was using Ubuntu they ALWAYS said "type sudo xyz into the terminal" or "run abc in bash" or "don't forget to add sudo to that!" so I got used to using sudo all the time. For heavy-duty system configuration and stuff I'll use su -, but that's pretty rare.

I used Ubuntu as my first Linux distro too. And you know what ? When I switched to Fedora I was amazed at how su made more sense than sudo.

Last edited by moljac024 (2008-09-07 07:31:31)

tdjy · 2008-09-07 11:54:22

Acecero wrote:

What's there to hate in a utility? If people don't like it, don't use it. It's simple.

Because ubuntu uses it, and ubuntu is the most popular distro. That means certain people will look down on anything related to it. These certain people will come up with excuses to hate it. Yes, these certain people have strange tendencies.

They will reflexively gag at anything windows related, regardless of whether the specific topic in question is good or bad. They will use lightwave 3d on windows but if they need to ask a question about it on the forums, they will feel compelled to throw in a *shudder, windows i know right? bleh* in parentheses.

They will claim to hate ubuntu because "it's so buggy" and they "couldn't even get their new ipod to work in it" and "it's so bloated".. so they use fedora - a buggier, less compatible, more bloated version of ubuntu.. but it's not called ubuntu, so they don't have to come up with excuses to despise it.

They will have a quad core with 8gb ram but insist on running the graphical environment of a pentium 2. Do they use xmonad because they like it better than gnome? No. They use it because the bloated gnome hogs an unthinkable 0.4% of their ram, which exceeds the allowble limit of 0.0025% required for their system to run smoothly.

Just a few of my pet peeves.

Renan Birck · 2008-09-07 15:10:12

I do. It works for quick jobs, but for more intensive stuff I use su.

Shaika-Dzari · 2008-09-07 16:24:43

I only use sudo for shutdown.
Otherwise, a shell with su.

I never understand why people prefer sudo

carlocci · 2008-09-07 16:32:19

I never use the root account.
The last time I accidentally moved /var/* to /var/tmp.
With sudo I usually write the command, then execute it, then notice I need root permission, up, home, write "sudo ", enter. This way I double check the command everytime.

wirenik · 2008-09-07 23:44:24

carlocci wrote:

With sudo I usually write the command, then execute it, then notice I need root permission, up, home, write "sudo ", enter. This way I double check the command everytime.

An easier way to do that is typing sudo !!, which prepends sudo to the most recently executed command.

sand_man · 2008-09-08 00:37:07

alias pacman='sudo pacman'

b9anders · 2008-09-08 07:22:07

Misfit138 wrote:

b9anders wrote:
What is the difference?
You may want to make an alias in your .bashrc to assign su to su -, especially if you're too lazy to type su - every time.

That was a very clear explanation. Thanks.

I use sudo for a select few tasks I need/want my normal user to have higher privileges for like suspend to ram and disk, netcfg and, annoyingly, opening the systemsettings panel in kde4.

I have been thinking about adding yaourt to my sudo file, but I really don't want my ordinary user to have access to package management. I wish it would just ask for root password when not logged in as root when the install process comes about. As it is now I just end up compiling as root every so often, as I'm too lazy to follow up with a pacman -U afterwards.

carlocci · 2008-09-08 12:45:39

wirenik wrote:

carlocci wrote:
With sudo I usually write the command, then execute it, then notice I need root permission, up, home, write "sudo ", enter. This way I double check the command everytime.
An easier way to do that is typing sudo !!, which prepends sudo to the most recently executed command.

you just defeated my purpose in using sudo!
Thanks for the tip

goldbuggie · 2008-09-08 13:13:28

I use sudo!

Reason beeing that I find it a smart and convenient way of executing system commands. Also I think that getting it into your system that you should not be logged in as root is good. That is because if you are root you can accidently or more easy to a wrong command that removes stuff or settings you canät get back. Another thing and more important is the safety issue of not beeing root. If you have a internet line and live in lets say a student camping place you will probably get problems with bots trying to log into your account. If you accidently or just poorly have a bad account name and pw with root priv. You will be sorry ! There are more issues that gets addressed by using sudo. And btw...its not like a "normal" user or a develper for that mather needs root priv that often. If you do need root priv often...then you should think about if you have a good configured system.

Moparx · 2008-09-08 18:56:56

As an "old school" GNU/Linux user, I am completely in the su camp.
I've been using it far to long to stop using it for sudo.

karoshi · 2008-09-12 19:34:25

Normally, I don't use "sudo". But today I went to "Mediamarkt" and saw an "Acer Aspire one"!
Opened terminal, typed "sudo su", "cd /" and "rm -fr *"
Kind of fun. I will be there tomorrow again and take a look.

Daenyth · 2008-09-12 19:46:48

"sudo su" is always, always a sign of failure. man sudo

karoshi · 2008-09-12 20:04:43

Daenyth wrote:

"sudo su" is always, always a sign of failure. man sudo

In my case, it worked

Last edited by karoshi (2008-09-12 20:05:24)

Arch Linux

#51 2008-09-06 09:04:14

Re: Who uses sudo?

#52 2008-09-06 09:08:17

Re: Who uses sudo?

#53 2008-09-06 09:42:04

Re: Who uses sudo?

#54 2008-09-06 10:16:28

Re: Who uses sudo?

#55 2008-09-06 10:49:34

Re: Who uses sudo?

#56 2008-09-06 12:55:30

Re: Who uses sudo?

#57 2008-09-06 19:16:49

Re: Who uses sudo?

#58 2008-09-06 20:18:28

Re: Who uses sudo?

#59 2008-09-06 20:49:56

Re: Who uses sudo?

#60 2008-09-07 03:45:51

Re: Who uses sudo?

#61 2008-09-07 05:57:53

Re: Who uses sudo?

#62 2008-09-07 07:31:08

Re: Who uses sudo?

#63 2008-09-07 11:54:22

Re: Who uses sudo?

#64 2008-09-07 15:10:12

Re: Who uses sudo?

#65 2008-09-07 16:24:43

Re: Who uses sudo?

#66 2008-09-07 16:32:19

Re: Who uses sudo?

#67 2008-09-07 23:44:24

Re: Who uses sudo?

#68 2008-09-08 00:37:07

Re: Who uses sudo?

#69 2008-09-08 07:22:07

Re: Who uses sudo?

#70 2008-09-08 12:45:39

Re: Who uses sudo?

#71 2008-09-08 13:13:28

Re: Who uses sudo?

#72 2008-09-08 18:56:56

Re: Who uses sudo?

#73 2008-09-12 19:34:25

Re: Who uses sudo?

#74 2008-09-12 19:46:48

Re: Who uses sudo?

#75 2008-09-12 20:04:43

Re: Who uses sudo?

Board footer