System safety rot.

[pema]

Dear forum.
After 8 years I now decided to give Linux mint a new try but before spending time I will try asking here :

When Ubuntu moved from 7.10 to system with "keychains" all my linux systems sooner or later rotted from within, after a couple of weeks every little operation and program needed root password and ended up with nothing working and computer locked down.

As Im a user and have no interest tinkering I gave different releases a try and then went back to windblows.

If I install a new system now and spend time using it, will it prevail sound and fit or rot from within as previous releases ?

I have no trouble using root password as I never have any virus issues anyway, I just need a system that will last longer than 2 weeks., as Im after 2 weeks have spent considerable time setting up system so when it fails Im blowing a fuse or two reverting back to windblows.

Any tips or recommendations for keeping a solid sustainable system working is appreciated.

[Moem]

after a couple of weeks every little operation and program needed root password and ended up with nothing working and computer locked down.

This sounds a lot like the permissions problems that people end up with if they are in the habit of starting graphical applications (such as file managers) from a terminal, using sudo. Could that be the case here?

[Pjotr]

Avoid these 10 fatal mistakes (all of them):
https://sites.google.com/site/easylinux ... almistakes

[JerryF]

...
Any tips or recommendations for keeping a solid sustainable system working is appreciated.

The few I can offer are these:

Don't run apps as root user if you don't need to.
Downloading apps from the web can add to "rot". Beware.
Blindly uninstalling items that you don't think you need (especially using Synaptic Package Manager) can also add to "rot".
Set your Update Manager to accept Levels 1 to 2. You will have to make the decision if you want security and kernel updates.