Re: How do I stop gmc from starting when logging in as root

[Telsa Gwynne <hobbit aloss ukuu org uk>]

On Mon, Jul 31, 2000 at 07:11:45AM +1000 or thereabouts, Darryl wrote:
> I couldnt help but notice that this is a very common question...........
> then why doesnt who ever the appropriate people code it in as a option to 
> turn off, as its obviously a thing that alot of users dislike and would 
> like to turn if so desired. 

(a) gmc is Going Away Soon. It's going to be replaced by Nautilus,
so you really want to pester nautilus developers. gmc is in maintenance
mode (ie: bug-fixes) only.

(b) You might have discovered the purposes of root four years ago,
but there are tons of people who are very new to multi-user systems
who really don't understand the function of multiple user accounts and
why to keep the one which does the most damage for special occasions;
and these are the people starting to use it now and who need to be 
warned _before_ they trash things and discover that "had they only
known in advance..."

If you've ever tried to calm and help someone on IRC, email or the
next door room after a disaster, you'd not ask this :) It's okay
if you can guarantee you're going to be the only one on your 
system, but suddenly replacing binaries with versions which don't
warn you when users expect the warning can lead to... um...
recriminations.

Finally, nothing stops you recompiling it without that message
yourself. Just find the source, find the right file, find the
function and remove it. I just had a peek at http://www.cvs.gnome
and got the right file first guess, and there it was. I have no
idea whether removing the function breaks it, but if you're happy
with the idea of runing as root perpetually, then you're clearly 
the sort of person who can fix such things :)

This is pretty much a paraphrase of what's in the proto-FAQ for
GNOME 1.2, which I just updated earlier today. It's currently at
http://www.linux.org.uk/~telsa/GDP/gnome-faq/index.html although
it may move to www.gnome.org if people like it.

Telsa