Re: PPP, Mount/Unmount

[Tom Gilbert <gilbertt tomgilbert freeserve co uk>]

* Michael Dennis (miked@kerneltech.com) [990809 17:41]:
> Mount/Unmounting removable media :
> PPP and security :
> 
> I have no problem with restricting PPPD to root only by default.  I think it
> makes sense to force the administrator to pay attention to it when setting
> up user accounts.  I do think, however, that the users should be able to run
> GNOME in root (for single user systems) without being constantly harassed
> that they shouldn't be running GMC as root.  If you're the only one using
> the system(stand-alone single user system) why shouldn't you run GNOME as
> root?   If your running root on a multi-user system then you should be the
> system administrator and should know the power/pitfalls of having root
> privileges right?  To me that warning makes no sense other than to confuse
> the user.  Hopefully the new version of the GNOME file manager addresses
> this issue.
> 
> Mike

Even an administrator on a multi-user system does not run everything
as root. He/she uses a normal account for everyday stuff. You log on 
as the root account when and only when necessary. To do otherwise
makes no sense. Also, a sensible admin (single *or* multi user) will
never run X as root. It is patently unnecessary. If you need to do a
root task, such as installing software, su to root in a terminal. For
example,

./configure
make
su -c "make install"

This prompts you for a password, then installs the software, and
logs out root again, leaving you as you were. No danger.

This question has been raised a billion times since unix began, and
you will not be the last to ask it.

It is far too easy to accidentally trash your filesystem as root. This
is the simplest answer. There are others.

Imagine you wanted to delete everything in the current directory.
The command is rm -rf ./*
If you miss-type this as
rm -rf /*
and you are logged in as root, you have just deleted your entire
filesystem. Damn.

As a normal user, permission to do so would have been denied.

Also, if you run gmc (I do not, the commandline is far more powerful),
and do so logged in as root, the oversensitivity of drag-and-drop in
the tree view could cost you the filesystem. Oops, just dragged /usr
under /var, and gmc happily complied, no questions asked.

I won't bleat on any further, but logging in as root to do routine
tasks is foolish in the extreme. It is also unnecessary, and goes
against the entire *nix philosophy.

Also, many common unix programs do not let you run them as root (never
mind a warning message, they bomb out) for saftey reasons. Some mail
clients always send mail marked as (From root on behalf of [Your
name]). The day Gnome condoned using the root account on a daily basis
would be the day I checked out.

Happy Gnoming.

Tom.
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