Linux Mint Forums

The simple truth is - you should not log in as root!
Log in as normal user and then use sudo, in some cases sudo su if you have more than a bit of computer knowledge.
Time out for grub is changed, as you probably know now, by editing grub/menu.lst

If you break it do a good job .

KDE is a bit annoying as it has an immediate time out for sudo by default so you have to type in your password every time. Gnome has a 15 minute (I think) delay.
One of the beauties with Ubuntu based distros is that you are not logging in as root, it's a good safety feature. When in root in LInux no questions are asked and your commands are executed promptly - this is of course valid for sudo as well but it is limited to some tasks at a time.
You should read scorp123's story of a mistake he made early in his career as root - with disastrous consequences (which you find here http://www.linuxmint.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1315)
and a general discussion of the root question has links here
http://www.linuxmint.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2355
So I think it is a thing given much thought not to have root enabled by default
But sometimes if you want to do a lot of system maintenance or so a log in as root maybe helpful
(or sudo su)
You are warned Have fun

paying attention to my newbie ramblings...

That's what we're here for

hms wrote:"If a user wants to enable root login"

hms, a user must NEVER log himself as root! A user MUST use sudo/su.

Ok but even in this case my answer is the same one. That is one of the bases of security (all the more in a UNIX system) and besides even in Windows it is not advised to use an administrator account for daily use… Even Microsoft tried to improve the security in Vista and to educate the home user not to use an administrative account.

One must use a user account and make the administrative tasks with sudo/su.

hms wrote:because that's the way I want it

ok but you should not want. That's all. No offence hms but again that is one of the basic principles in UNIX systems. Please do not seek "to pervert" the system. No XP-like approach here please...

Use a user account with sudo/su for administrative tasks. (to make changes in Grub for example, see your first post )

hms wrote:I KNOW ALREADY. It's risky

Ok, good, so don't do it. (Again no offence. )

hms wrote: Okay, that does it. I thought we could give this a rest as of Husse's last reply, but you had to jump in and try to get a rise out of me, so I'm gonna log in as root from now on, just to piss you off.

OK people, please be nice, OK?

@ linuxviolin: It's his system. If he wants to enable 'root' then let him. You can warn people, yes. Can you change them? No. It's their choice. If they know what they do: Fine. If not ... oh well Besides: Disabling direct access to 'root' is rather new and was introduced first with Mac OS X and then imitated by Ubuntu and Debian. On classic UNIX systems such as HP-UX and Solaris logging in and working as 'root' is something e.g. I have to do on a regular basis. It's a fact of life. Other Linux distributions such as SUSE also ship with an enabled 'root' account. If someone knows what he/she is doing then working as 'root' is no problem. On the contrary, sometimes it's a necessity.

@ hms: You wrote: "To everyone besides linuxviolin who might be checking out this thread, don't take that last statement literally. " .... OK, I won't. Nontheless: Please don't call others here anything ugly or give them names or something or make possibly false assumptions about them. Believe it or not but "linuxviolin" probably just tried to help you, e.g. keep you from hosing your system. Look at it from that point of view. Also: Sarcasm and word plays don't always work so well with people who are not native English speakers -- they might not get the meaning of the things you write. So sometimes it may be helpful to mark jokes and funny statements as such so that others may have a chance to understand what you *really* meant. Example:

• bla bla bla bla
  bla bla bla bla
  funny remark
  more bla bla bla
  even more bla bla bla
  stupid remark containing f*** words <== JOKE!
  End of example.

Something like the above is easier to interpret if you clearly mark it as 'joke' .... if it's funny or not is another question though. Trust me ... I too have my fair share of troubles with others here who sometimes totally misunderstand the tone in my postings. Only thing I can suggest here is: Be patient. And don't unneccessarily escalate an argument if it gets out of hand.

hms wrote: If one of the forum moderators wants to delete the whole thread that's fine with me.

As per your wish I will lock it now. But for the future: Everybody be nice, OK?

Thanks for your cooperation and have a good time