su root password On 03/28/2010 09:54 AM, Rick Sewill wrote: > On 03/28/2010 03:29 AM, Rajanish Kumar wrote: > >> Hi! >> I have already installed Fedora 12 .I have given root password...and >> finally added a user name "rajanish" >> .I am log in through "rajanish"but i have not accessing throgh root...I >> want to log in through root because i want to learn administrative property. >> please help me to guide log in through root.. >> >> Rajanish Kumar >> Fedora User >> >> > Others will answer how to log in through root. > > I would express a different concern. > > Please forgive me if this sounds like a rant. > I don't wish it to be such. The following is what I believe. > > Linux has a different mindset from Windows. > > I think of Windows as being single-user focused. > One user, at a time, does things on Windows. > That user, is, for all intents and purposes, "god" on the PC. > That user, invariably, runs with administrator privileges. > > I realize I am being unfair to Windows. > One can have multiple Windows users "active" at the same time. > One can leave one user active and log in as another user. > > Windows users can be restricted from administrator privileges. > > Windows users are coerced into running with administrator privileges. > Windows users run programs that try to do upgrades automatically. > Windows users visit websites that try to do installs immediately. > > Linux is multi-user. People are expected to run as normal users. > People should be root only long enough to do system things. > > Program developers create downloads with this in mind. > People can download and compile and build programs as normal users. > Only when people need to install, do people need to become root. > > For most things, people should run as a "normal" user. > When I see a person running normal programs, as root, I shudder. > > People have arguments, which is more secure, Windows or Linux. > I believe it is not the operating system that is secure or insecure. > I believe it is the way people use the operating system. > > I believe one can take an insecure Windows operating system and make it > secure. One can argue, it will also be annoying to use, or unusable, > but that is another discussion. > > I believe one can take a secure Linux operating system and make it insecure. > > What am I trying to say? > > Please be very, very careful what you do as root. > You can make a terrible mess if you don't know what you are doing. > > This is the end of my rant...wishing it didn't sound like a rant. > > To help this person and me and others, can someone suggest some > reasonable websites that explain how to keep Linux secure and how to be > a Linux administrator for beginners? > > What I found, when searching the Internet, was rather dated. > > I'm not looking for information on selinux or the intricacies of iptables. > > I'd rather find a tutorial saying things like... > only run services (chkconfig service ...) you need, > only open firewall ports (iptables ...) you really want opened, > only install software from sources you trust, > don't run user programs or games as root, > get a USB drive for backups and how to do backups, > etc. > > I have a personal reason for asking for this information. > > My sister keeps bringing her Windows XP PC to me for fixing. > It takes her less than a week to get viruses on her PC. > I've reloaded from the factory partition twice already. > > The second time, she got viruses, really frustrated me. > Before giving her back her PC, I made sure all the patches were in. > I had Norton Utilities running with all updates. > I made sure her firewall was enabled. > Did me little good. > > Her PC currently has some viruses on it (this is the third time). > Again, I made sure all patches were in and all updates were in. > > Norton Utilities can detect the viruses, but not remove them. > > I told her I wanted to install Linux on her PC. > She is bucking. She knows how to find notepad. > She wants to be able to run a "Creative Memories" program. > She has both Internet Explorer and firefox (I tried to get her to use > firefox) set to go to her favorite website, as her home page. > > I only find out she has a problem when she can't do her usual routine. > The first two times, I found out, because the malware was demanding > money and wouldn't let her do anything with her PC. > > This last time, I found out, because, when she clicked the web browser > icon, it went to the wrong web page, not her home page. > > Even if I force her to switch to Linux, I will have problems. > She will fuss and fuss until I give her the root password. > I won't want to give her the root password...for obvious reasons. > She will take a "secure" Linux system and make it vulnerable. > She won't know what she is doing. > > You may think I'm being unfair to her...and I am. > She is not computer literate. She is literate in other things. > She calls her PC her brain because someone explained the PC was the > brain. She doesn't know what a hard disk is...she doesn't know the > difference between program and data...she doesn't know how to find > things unless those things are icons on the desktop...she needs help > configuring her printer and ethernet. Once configured, she is happy. > > As I say, I am being unfair to her...there are many things she knows > that I don't know and don't wish to know...but she is not computer > literate. For this discussion, that is what matters. > > I was looking for the history of Linux and found an interesting URL from > http://www.youtube.com/user/ComputerHistory > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVTWCPoUt8w > This is the first time I saw an image of Linus Torvalds. > > If people could find tutorials on how to be an administrator for Linux, > written for people who are not very computer literate, I would be > appreciative. > > -- users mailing list users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe or change subscription options: https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines