Logging in as root

[eldiener]

When I installed Mint 14 KDE I was not asked for a root password. I see that the root password is the same as my user password. Convenient but not secure. No problem. I will login as root and change my password. Lo and behold I am told that logging in as root is not allowed.

How do I change this ?

Needless to say I must be able to login as root and I must be able to change the root password.

[flyboy1565]

Usually you don't need to be the root user, you only need to be able to envoke sudo privileges. I don't even see my root user as I have one user with sudo powers

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[eldiener]

Usually you don't need to be the root user, you only need to be able to envoke sudo privileges. I don't even see my root user as I have one user with sudo powers

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So what are you saying ? Mint has created a Linux distro where there can be no root user and whoever installs the system has root priveleges but must still give root's password every time he wants to do anything ? That is hardly a solution IMO.

[flyboy1565]

No, there is a root but you don't need to be the root user just sudo provilies

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[MALsPa]

If you really feel that you absolutely have to have a root account enabled, maybe check this out first: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo

I believe you'll find the answer to your question about two-thirds of the way down in that article.

I stick with su in most distros, but in Ubuntu and Mint I've stayed with sudo, with no root account enabled. People debate the pros and cons all the time; I've found that I'm okay with the way it's done in Ubuntu and Mint, though.

[eldiener]

If you really feel that you absolutely have to have a root account enabled, maybe check this out first: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo

I believe you'll find the answer to your question about two-thirds of the way down in that article.

I stick with su in most distros, but in Ubuntu and Mint I've stayed with sudo, with no root account enabled. People debate the pros and cons all the time; I've found that I'm okay with the way it's done in Ubuntu and Mint, though.

Thanks for the link. Appreciated !

I am as always amazed by the effort of some computer programmers ( I am a programmer myself ) to keep the end-user from "hurting" himself using computer software by creating nonsensical situations. What a waste of time and effort in all cases. I've been in this business long enough to know that 99% of the programming world has no clue as to what programming is about. At least I can use Mint now without giving it up.

[MALsPa]

You might enjoy this article: http://www.howtogeek.com/111479/htg-exp ... n-sudo-su/

[eldiener]

You might enjoy this article: http://www.howtogeek.com/111479/htg-exp ... n-sudo-su/

Thanks ! I understand the ins and outs of these things. But not allowing a user to login as root to do administrative tasks on a Linux distro is just wrong IMO. It only gets worse if some serious problem at startup keeps an end-user from booting/logging in to Mint and there is no way he can then permanently become the root in order to fix the problem.

Mint is a very nice distro but it should not go out of its way to keep knowledgable end-users from doing what is necessary to use the OS.

[MALsPa]

Well, I've been using Linux distros, including Mint and Ubuntu, for quite awhile now, and really the only time I log in as root is sometimes when using a live session for maintenance purposes or whatever. Otherwise, there's pretty much no reason to do it. I think most Linux users would agree; but, hey, I figure it's your system.

[FreedomOfTheOpenCode]

"But not allowing a user to login as root to do administrative tasks on a Linux distro is just wrong IMO. It only gets worse if some serious problem at startup keeps an end-user from booting/logging in to Mint and there is no way he can then permanently become the root in order to fix the problem."

Yes, the reason I left Windows was to get away from someone else deciding what I can/want/need to do on my PC. I came to this forum precisely because of the situation described above. I cannot believe that the first distro I chose makes it so hard to log in to a text session as root. I needed to do this because some packages not in the repository do not install properly using sudo in the mdm. To stop me logging in as root if I want to is like taking the start menu out of Win 8 to stop people using it.

[MALsPa]

I cannot believe that the first distro I chose makes it so hard to log in to a text session as root. I needed to do this because some packages not in the repository do not install properly using sudo in the mdm.

In that situation, couldn't you run sudo -i to log into an interactive shell and then install those packages? Either that or run sudo passwd root to enable the root user account? Just wondering.

[FreedomOfTheOpenCode]

In that situation, couldn't you run sudo -i to log into an interactive shell and then install those packages? Either that or run sudo passwd root to enable the root user account? Just wondering.

Actually, I didn't know about those commands. I got very frustrated because the display manager would not let me log in as root, and I couldn't boot straight into a command shell without the display manager starting. I found a way to do that eventually but I locked myself out in the process and had to reinstall many times because I didn't know what I was doing. I have learned a lot about the boot process while doing this and I am much more confident as a result, but I will make a backup image of the hard disk before I try anything else now! I am beginning to believe that there is always a solution to a problem in Linux.