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On Saturday 30 September 2006 11:22, Neil Winchurst wrote: > There have been some comments recently about helping people who are > perhaps considering moving over to Linux. Mostly the suggested version > of Linux is (k)ubuntu. Perhaps I have misunderstood something, but here > are my thoughts. > > I have never tried ubuntu, but I have read a lot of reviews and > comments about it and one of the surprises was that there is apparently > no need to have root password. > > I have always understood that one of the main advantages to Linux over > Windows is that normal users, not knowing the root password, cannot > cause any accidental (or malicious) damage to the system files. If this > is not the case with ubuntu then perhaps that is not a good version to > suggest. > > Or am I not understanding something? > > Neil Winchurst The Ubuntu family uses sudo to carry out root commands. The general idea I suppose is that there is only one password to remember. Malicious scripts would need the user to input the user password to execute - in the same way that most other distros need a root password. At all times, when an admin command is being issued, you are prompted to enter the password, which indicates that the action is going to need "root" privileges. At first, I found it very strange to not use a root password, but you do get used to it. Of course, you can always alter the default behaviour to the standard root/user setup. You can also prevent other users with accounts on the machine from performing sudo activities - minimising the risk of accidental or malicious damage. >>From an "ease of use" viewpoint, it is a good idea - only one password. I am still not 100% convinced it is the way forward, but I see it as an alternative which perhaps helps those wishing to migrate towards GNU/Linux. I have not found it any less safe than any of my other distros to be honest - but there are a few distros which have no "admin" type user at all - and those will happily carry out root type activity without any further prompting. >>From the recommendation point of view, I still recommend the Ubuntu family for those who wish to move towards GNU/Linux. It is kept up to date, with regular security updates and, being based on Debian, it has access to a huge range of applications. There may well be better distros out there for the more advanced users, but for day to day use, I would recommend Ubuntu. Not that I am an Ubuntu fanboi I hasten to add - yes, I do run it on my systems, along with Debian, Gentoo, Yoper, Mandriva and a whole host of other distros which come and go. Mark -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html