Re: Several questions.

[Kent West]

spencer ward wrote:
Hi,
Last week I installed Debian for the first time
and now I would like to update my system.
My first question is when I try to sign on
in the debian gui pop up I get the message
that root can't use that window to sign on.
Why is that and how can I over come that?
 

Debian doesn't let you do this because it's a bad idea, security-wise. 
However, if you insist on it, you can reconfigure the security settings 
in your GUI login. You don't mention which GUI login you're using, but 
for example, if you're using KDE, you'd edit "/etc/kde[version 
number]/kdm/kdmrc", and change the line:

AllowRootLogin=false
to "true".
But again, this is not a good idea. In fact, it's not a good idea to run 
as root as all, except when needed, and even then, most of the time you 
can accomplish the same thing by using "sudo" instead.


I would now like to update my desktop
environment to the new release of KDE.
Do I have to update the GNOME package
as well?
 

You did not mention what version of Debian you're currently using 
(Stable/Woody, Testing/Sarge, Unstable/Sid), nor how you plan to go 
about updating to KDE.

But no, you don't have to update Gnome just because you update KDE. (And 
by the way, it would be "Gnome package*s*", plural.)

If you're going to manually download KDE and install it manually, that's 
fine, but be aware that it then won't be integrated into Debian the way 
an official Debian-sourced KDE would be. It's often a trade-off between 
getting the newest shiniest stuff and getting the stuff that's available 
from the official Debian repositories. A lot of time you can get a good 
compromise by getting unofficial Debian-flavored software from 
Debian-friendly third party sites, but then you need to have a high 
degree of trust in those third parties.

(Oh, and PS: A descriptive subject line on your emails tend to get 
better responses on this list. I suspect about half the regulars on this 
list just automatically deleted your post because of the very generic 
subject line, and those are the smart folks who can most help on issues 
like this. Perhaps you should've used something like "How to login to 
GUI as root, and upgrading KDE". Although it's a bit longer than 
preferred, the better description is preferred over brevity, generally.)

--
Kent
--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]