Michal Jaegermann wrote:
On Thu, Nov 05, 2009 at 12:14:44PM -0500, Jim wrote:
Would someone explain to me what is the detrimental difference between
a Gui or command line, logging in to root from the same box .
Complexity. The more programs are involved the harder they become
to secure. With specialized tools that can be manageable and you
can tell that a trade-off of a small GUI is worth it but you are
talking about a "kitchen sink" application here.
Most of the people that over reacted to question was they looked at
Konqueror as a Web Browser, not realizing it is also a File Manager.
And also..., and also..., and ... Here is the issue. "Big" web
browsers are complicated beast and chances for forgotten "dark
corners" and unwanted/unexpected interactions grow exponentially
with size. Root should be much more careful as effects of a
hypothetical compromise are far reaching.
You only need to look at the guano that is Internet Explorer to prove
how incestuous and dangerous a web browser/file manager/media manager/
swiss army knife app can get. Other GUI apps can be just as
detrimental. A security hole in any of them can be disastrous.
These are the main reasons why the default for F10-F12 is to not permit
the root user to log in as a GUI user--specifically to keep people from
shooting themselves in the foot. If you really need a GUI for certain
tasks you want root to do, the "bring up a command line, 'su -' in it
and run the GUI app you want from there" is a reasonable compromise. If
you really, really want root to log in as a GUI, follow the instructions
in the Wiki. It's not hard to do.
I've been a Linux admin for well over 15 years and I've yet to see when
I really _need_ root to have a GUI. It's nice on occasion, but you use
it (and anything as root) at your own risk.
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