[Gllug] Re-establishing access to Root

[Ian Norton]

Tethys wrote:

>Ian Norton writes:
>
>  
>
>>using X as root might not be as dangerous as it once was
>>    
>>
>
>Actually, I'd argue it's more dangerous now than it has ever been.
>There is far more useless crap running on the average desktop now
>than there ever was in the "good old days", and thus there's far
>more scope for security vulnerabilities.
>
>  
>
>>if you truly want to run X as the root user, then i expect it will only 
>>be in special circumstances when you want to fix stuff or install new 
>>things.
>>    
>>
>
>I can't see why you'd want to run X as root even then. It's simply a
>bad idea on all fronts. Don't do it, and don't expect any sympathy from
>me when it goes wrong. If you have a GUI application that needs to be
>run as root, then ssh to localhost as root and use X forwarding. That
>way, you don't have all of your applications running as root, only
>those that absolutely need the elevated privilege.
>
>Tet
>  
>
I agree whole heartedly with Tet, also, that if the box is running X, it 
cant be particularly important :-), even a LTSP server doesnt need to 
actually run the graphical bit. I cant see why you would need to be root 
in X either, but if he wants to maybe it will help him learn why there 
is feeling against doing so.

Ian
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