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Got Root - Should You Use It?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the great-power-great-responsibility dept.

vegthura asks: "I have several coworkers that insist that logging into servers is an acceptable practice. They claim it's just easier than using sudo and it's just as safe - you know you're root so what else do you need? And why bother logging in as you if you're just going to use sudo to run commands with root privileges anyway? Everything I've ever read has been the exact opposite philosophy. There is very little you need to be root to do, if anything in practice, and using sudo lets you only use the power of root for when you really need it. So, die hard unix geeks, you've got root... do you use it or stick to sudo?"

6 of 245 comments (clear)

  1. Ask slashdot; by jericho4.0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    My brother insists it's safe to turn off a computer by pouring beer on the power supply. Everything I've ever read has been the exact opposite philosophy. Who is right?

    --
    "A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing" - Alan Perlis
    1. Re:Ask slashdot; by enrgeeman · · Score: 2, Funny

      not root beer, sudo beer!

      --
      sent from my slashdot browser.
    2. Re:Ask slashdot; by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      The exact opposite philosophy? You mean turning off beer by pouring computer into its power supply?

    3. Re:Ask slashdot; by EZLeeAmused · · Score: 4, Funny

      Your brother is right. It is safe and effective to turn off a computer by pouring beer on the power supply. But it only works once. And after it does, you really wish you still had that beer.

      --
      Some see the vessel as half full; others see it as half-empty; We pour it out on the floor and laugh
  2. It sounds like you are not really using sudo by Error27 · · Score: 2, Funny

    It sounds like you can't really articulate a need for sudo but you're just doing it because you read about it. Sudo isn't magically better if you don't use the features.

    Also it annoys me that sudo seems to have a lot of security bugs. It had 3 local exploits last year... That doesn't affect whether you should use it or not because you obviously should, I'm just saying that it annoys me.

  3. root or root not; there is no try by Tumbleweed · · Score: 5, Funny

    Look, if you're too much of a pussy about using root because you might screw something up, you shouldn't have the root password anyway, should you. *pbbt* :)