[CLUE-Tech] RE: Root vs User

[Timothy C. Klein]

* David Willson (DLWillson at TheGeek.NU) wrote:
> Tim,
> 
> Quick observation:
> I think you and Keith are on the same philosophical page.
> 
> Quick question:
> One of the recent 'user-level' distros, Lindows, I think, opted to log
> the user in as root by default, to get a simpler overall experience, in
> short, to avoid confusing Win9x refugees.  What are your thoughts on
> that?
> Here's mine:
> Without separation of privilege-levels, Linux is not Linux.  Defaulting
> to root leads to sloppy habits on the part of users and programmers
> which are hard to break.  Reference Windows NT, the amount of damage a
> normal user can do to an NT-system when logged on interactively is
> tremendous.  The number of unacknowledged 'bugs' caused by a lack of
> separation, in the programmer's mind, between administrators and regular
> users, between system and user areas of the file system, and between
> system and user-level processes, is also tremendous.  Someday, due to
> the competition Linux has given, and will continue to give, Microsoft
> may tighten their default setups, and get as clean a separation on this
> line as Linux has, but there will still be a industry full of
> shoddily-written software to correct.  That'll ~never~ fix, which will
> lead to more FUD for the customer, who will cling all the more tightly
> to Uncle Microsoft.
> 

I definately feel that we have a need for the root account, even on a
single-use machine.  I just think that a lot of us *Nix folks seem to
operate on the implicit assumption that all *Nix machines are servers.
And thus, some of the steps recommended are really just overkill for a
machine if you use it as a Desktop machine.  There is no problem
treating your desktop as a full-blown DOD nuclear bomb simulator.  But
you don't have to, and it can be quite inconvenient to do so.

There is no real harm in the occasional SU to root to for a file
'upload.'  Why?  As I was saying before, on a home use machine, a root
mistake that nukes /usr is damn inconvenient, but that is it.  Nuke
/etc, and is even more inconvenient.  Nuke /home/user, and your really
crying.  And that last one can happen as your everyday user.

Tim  
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