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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?"

2 of 245 comments (clear)

  1. I stick to sudo by gzearfoss · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I personally stick to sudo. The main reason why is to protect me from myself, more than anyone. Because I have to prefix the command with sudo, it serves as a 'mental brake' to slow down my typing, and double check what I type before I run it.

  2. It's all about logging by forsetti · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Given rich ACLs, there is really very little that needs to be done as root. However, when root is needed, it is important to remember that there is only one root. On a machine with multiple admins, how do you tell who logged in as root? The sudo log entry tells all:

    Apr 15 22:05:41 linux-black sudo: matt : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/home/matt ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/tail /var/log/auth.log

    sudo is valuable if only for the logging. Yes, you can limit what can be done using the sudoers file, but logging who did what is invaluable.

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    10b||~10b -- aah, what a question!