On 06/11/2013 08:31 AM, Tim wrote: > Allegedly, on or about 10 June 2013, Joe Zeff sent: >> To me, sudo is a fine tool if you want to give access to a few admin >> tools to people who don't (and shouldn't) know the root password. >> However, I can't see the point of using it if you're the person who >> installed Linux and created the root password. > > I can see only two reasons for using sudo when you're the sole computer > user and owner: > > Once the command finishes, your terminal is left with your unprivileged > logon, so there's less chance of serious mistakes happening by accident > (e.g. badly wildcarded "rm" commands), if you're going to keep that > terminal open. > > Potentially, there should be less chance for something to snaffle up a > copy of your root password if you're not typing it. Though I suspect > that if there is anything hanging around that could do that, then you're > already screwed. > > And it's not just the potential for issuing dangerous commands in a root > terminal, that's a problem. People logged in as root often stay logged > in as root, doing things as root when they don't really need to. Then > they find that they're painted themselves into a corner, as some files > they wanted to use are owned by root, so they log back in as root, yet > again, for a really bad reason. > > That said, I've really only recently made practical use of sudo, and > can't say that *I* find it to be a stand-out better thing to do than > doing "su -", I still do it either way. >
When you're done with whatever you did and you get distracted then return to the computer, you'll probably forget you are logged in as root. And that's when a stupid command causes chaos. With sudo, you're using root level privs on a command-by-command basis, so there's less chance of blowing off some toes. -- -- Steve -- users mailing list users@lists.fedoraproject.org To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines Have a question? Ask away: http://ask.fedoraproject.org
