Re: How to suppress the annoying warning message for gmc??

[Tom Gilbert <gilbertt linuxbrit co uk>]

* Craig Orsinger (orsingerc@epg-gw1.lewis.army.mil) wrote:
> 
> >>         And yes, I do occasionally need to log in as root.
> > 
> > The "su" command is for logging in as root... Why do you need to run X
> > and gmc and all the gnome applications as root though?
> 
>         The two tasks I nearly always need to use a GUI-based
> root login to accomplish are compiling a new version of the kernel
> and figuring out how to install complex new software or hardware.
> Sometimes "su" is good enough for these things, but there are times 
> when you just waste too much time "su"ing and setting up a proper
> environment for root. In those cases I just log out of an ordinary
> user account and login as root.

su takes no time, and there is no need to set up an environment if su -.

And why on earth do you need GNOME running as root to compile a kernel?
All the commands are run from a terminal, so does having the panel
sitting there as a root user *really* help you?
 
> > It's a shame if that warning is now disableable... If I had written that
> > code, it would've shown the message then quit if UID==0 ;-)
> 
>         Like I said, if you want to keep fools out of root, don't
> give them the password. For anyone else, certainly anyone who has
> any business being a system administrator, the first few warnings 
> should be enough.

No. I hate to perpetuate this boring, oft-repeated thread, but I need to
clear this up.

I'm not saying "don't run everything as root because you are stupid".

I'm saying don't run everything as root because you *don't need to*, and
it's an unnecessary risk. Let's ignore the possibility of making a
mistake for a minute, and remember that no gtk or GNOME code has been
audited for use as the root user. If someone else wants to get into your
machince remotely, they will have really really easy time, because all
those little insecure applets, clocks, loadmeters, icq programs etc,
etc, etc will all be running as root. If one of them has a bug, that bug
gets to run riot as root, instead of just a user.

Why? Why run gnome-session as root? Why run the panel as root? There is
no need. If you *have* to use a GUI tool as root, run it from an su'd
terminal.

The warning should stay - but should be accompanied by an explanation of
how to do it without exposing your entire system.

Tom.
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