Who uses sudo?

haxit · 2008-08-28 00:14:08

I do.

Megamixman · 2008-08-28 00:35:40

uhh... ok....

I think it is encouraged for everyone to use sudo instead of logging into root when such privileges are needed on a temporary basis. If you honestly need to go into the settings files and hack away for hours, then I don't see a problem.

PS. eh!?

haxit · 2008-08-28 01:21:54

Ye, I totally agree eh. (Btw I wasn't born canadian )

vuboy · 2008-08-28 01:33:29

Nothing wrong with root on demand eh?
hehe

B-Con · 2008-08-28 01:37:01

I just login as root, it saves time. For Internet I only use Firefox, and it's really secure so I see no problems running it as root.

Last edited by B-Con (2008-08-28 01:37:19)

Gullible Jones · 2008-08-28 01:47:41

I use sudo and a locked root account. No need for anyone to log in as root, after all.

Acecero · 2008-08-28 02:41:20

I use sudo for being able to easily switch back and forth between administration tasks and normal ones. It's less convienent for me to always switch to root via su and typing in the root password just to use the utilites I need for a short while then logging back to my user account only to know I need root access again within the next 2-3 commands and having to type the password again. It gets repetitive, where as with sudo you use your account password once and you can use it whenever within a time limit. I'm sorry and shoot me for all I care but I only use root more as a backup for just incase if I fsck something up with my current account, like messing up my sudo settings or being incapable all together without root.

kensai · 2008-08-28 02:49:30

I come form the old school, I cannot get used to typing sudo and then my user password. I find it easier and simpler to just 'su' and then 'exit' the 'su' mode.

N30N · 2008-08-28 03:02:49

I always use sudo and also keep root enabled for the for the reasons Acecero stated. Another benefit is that programs (like vim) have access to my rc files.

haxit · 2008-08-28 03:04:13

Well I am pleased to hear this. Many other people hate sudo :S

Last edited by haxit (2008-08-28 03:04:22)

crouse · 2008-08-28 03:58:45

I don't use sudo.......but i do see where it could be beneficial on a multiuser machine, where others need access to some root only applications.

pauldonnelly · 2008-08-28 04:24:24

I don't. Can't see the point in prepending "sudo" to a bunch of commands rather than just using su to get a root shell. Plus, it's easy to get so used to typing "sudo" that you put it in front of commands that really shouldn't be running with those permissions.

klixon · 2008-08-28 06:25:05

The point of sudo is to be able to give users root permissions on certain commands without giving them a root shell...
If you are the admin of a box, sudo is quite useless...
If, however, you are admin on a multi-user box that has some trusted users that need to be able to run /some/ commands as root, you can authorize them for only those commands, without giving them the opportunity to start all kinds of "unexpected" mayhem

tonyisnt · 2008-08-28 06:40:20

I use it. Plus, as far as I know by issuing sudo -s you can stay in root anyways. At the moment I have the root account completely locked, but for reasons mentioned in this thread I think I'll activate it again. I actually did mess up my sudoers on another computer a while ago, and it left things in a less-than-ideal state for almost a week before I got to it with a Knoppix CD.

Army · 2008-08-28 06:47:02

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

Last edited by Army (2008-08-28 06:47:15)

RiceMonster · 2008-08-28 07:18:39

I use sudo, and never log into root. The account's not locked though.

zyghom · 2008-08-28 07:46:01

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

moljac024 · 2008-08-28 08:31:55

kensai wrote:

I come form the old school, I cannot get used to typing sudo and then my user password. I find it easier and simpler to just 'su' and then 'exit' the 'su' mode.

+1 Bro!

And having an alias su='su -' helps.

Last edited by moljac024 (2008-08-28 08:40:49)

Hide · 2008-08-28 08:35:52

I use it only for aliases, for commands that need root access. Never really type it in

Barrucadu · 2008-08-28 08:52:34

I use sudo if it's only one or two commands, otherwise su - comes to the rescue!

ArchArael · 2008-08-28 09:12:05

B-Con: I just login as root, it saves time. For Internet I only use Firefox, and it's really secure so I see no problems running it as root.

You can do what you want with your box and I am not bashing you but trust me...this is really bad practice.

Firstly, firefox is not secure but the bugs and security holes are just fixed sooner. And remember there were holes opened for years and the comunity fixed them just years after. I like firefox but I would never us it with root privileges. I would never use any program that I don't have to. That's because if the program has some bug and causes some damage it's executed as root so you will obtain maximal damage possible. You will obtain maximal damage just because the program is executed with all privileges.

It's also worse if the bug permits someone else to access your machine. You could be monitored for a long time thanks to rootkits ( think about your banking data, e-mail passwords, private life), or if you are lucky and you make regular backups this cracker could just delete your data. All security holes, even smaller ones became huge holes when are exploited with super user privileges. It's just logic.

The second factor is human one. Just one error. Think about that you could do an error. Maybe an rm -rf * while you are on /. You can damage your system in many other ways just because you do anything with super user privileges.

Think....even MS with Vista has droped Administrator profile and started using UAC mechanism.

Back In Topic

I also use sudo. I found sudo very useful for some commands I execute often. Like pm-hibernate, pm-suspend, mpd. The NOPASSWD option is really nice.

And sudo is not less secure than su -.
http://www.sudo.ws/sudo/readme.html

The sudo philosophy
===================
Sudo is a program designed to allow a sysadmin to give limited root privileges
to users and log root activity. The basic philosophy is to give as few
privileges as possible but still allow people to get their work done.

Sorry for my bad english...

Last edited by ArchArael (2008-08-28 18:28:14)

moljac024 · 2008-08-28 09:22:41

ArchArael wrote:

I also use sudo. I found sudo very useful for some commands I execute often. Like pm-hibernate, pm-suspend, mpd. The NOPASSWD option is really nice.

Exacly. A nice use for sudo indeed!

Profjim · 2008-08-28 10:44:09

ArchAreal, I think he was joking.

Lachkater · 2008-08-28 11:44:47

I use the root account shortly after the installation to set things up. When everything important is installed and configured I use sudo.

Army · 2008-08-28 11:48:39

Profjim wrote:

ArchAreal, I think he was joking.

+1
And why do you run mpd as root??

Arch Linux

#1 2008-08-28 00:14:08

Who uses sudo?

#2 2008-08-28 00:35:40

Re: Who uses sudo?

#3 2008-08-28 01:21:54

Re: Who uses sudo?

#4 2008-08-28 01:33:29

Re: Who uses sudo?

#5 2008-08-28 01:37:01

Re: Who uses sudo?

#6 2008-08-28 01:47:41

Re: Who uses sudo?

#7 2008-08-28 02:41:20

Re: Who uses sudo?

#8 2008-08-28 02:49:30

Re: Who uses sudo?

#9 2008-08-28 03:02:49

Re: Who uses sudo?

#10 2008-08-28 03:04:13

Re: Who uses sudo?

#11 2008-08-28 03:58:45

Re: Who uses sudo?

#12 2008-08-28 04:24:24

Re: Who uses sudo?

#13 2008-08-28 06:25:05

Re: Who uses sudo?

#14 2008-08-28 06:40:20

Re: Who uses sudo?

#15 2008-08-28 06:47:02

Re: Who uses sudo?

#16 2008-08-28 07:18:39

Re: Who uses sudo?

#17 2008-08-28 07:46:01

Re: Who uses sudo?

#18 2008-08-28 08:31:55

Re: Who uses sudo?

#19 2008-08-28 08:35:52

Re: Who uses sudo?

#20 2008-08-28 08:52:34

Re: Who uses sudo?

#21 2008-08-28 09:12:05

Re: Who uses sudo?

#22 2008-08-28 09:22:41

Re: Who uses sudo?

#23 2008-08-28 10:44:09

Re: Who uses sudo?

#24 2008-08-28 11:44:47

Re: Who uses sudo?

#25 2008-08-28 11:48:39

Re: Who uses sudo?

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