Re: [orca-list] system admin

[Daniel Dalton <d dalton iinet net au>]

Hi Will,

On Tue, 20 May 2008, Willie Walker wrote:

> Hi Mohammed:
>
> Unfortunately, doing things as the 'root' user is a very risky thing if
> you are not familiar with Linux.  You risk trashing your system (i.e.,
> needing to reinstall it), opening it up to security risks, etc.  As

Trashing it, well, that is a bit extreme, it is usually fixable.
Securety risks, again, a bit extreme, there isn't a lot you can easily do 
to do this unless you are parrannoyed about every securety risk, like 
users gaining root access...
Like for example, you wouldn't be able to easily allow ssh log ins...
So sure, try it, but it might not work or may need to be fixed.
I haven't really ever had to do a reinstall except for once, but that was 
actually fixable, I just didn't read hard enough.

> such, if you do not know how to edit files yet, you may not be at the
> point where you should be doing things as the root user.

True, but if you read a  quick howto, you should try it.

> I wish there were currently a more automated/foolproof way to configure
> this stuff.  Right now, however, you need to have basic file editing
> skills and some level of Linux knowledge to do the work.  Ideally, your

You do, however, I'm working on a python script to automate the process:
Currently it can create .orbitrc
All I need to do is fix up the sudoers.
My plan:
- Set permissions to 644 (I think) (done in the script)
- read one line at a time through the file until I find the reset line 
that needs to be changed.
- Somehow comment out that line and write the new one just under it.
Its coming a long nicely after 10 minutes of work, but I have a lot of 
things going on in my life at the minute, so will be delayed before I can 
look again.

Cheers,

--
Daniel Dalton

http://members.iinet.net.au/~ddalton/
<d dalton iinet net au>