[Gllug] Re-establishing access to Root

[Ian Norton]

David Reed wrote:

>Stumbling about in my own ignorance, I have managed to disable access to the 
>Root desktop. As I am not sure how I managed to do that in the first place, I 
>am bemused about how to correct my mistake. I know that I can use su to gain 
>access to root, but it can be inconvenient at times. I have sought answers 
>using Google and there seems to be very little on this topic. 
>I am using SuSE 9.1 pro and GRUB with which to boot up. 
>
>David Reed
>  
>
Hiya,

from using suse long ago i remember it gave you a nice red desktop 
covered in cherry bomb wallpaper if you logged into X as root, The 
reason for that is partly to discourage this.

using X as root might not be as dangerous as it once was, but it still 
opens you up to some serious problems. (i guess you have heard this before)

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. (you can do this from the console too as im sure you know) you 
can try this:-

1. login via a console as root.
2. stop the graphical logon service
    either '/etc/init.d/xdm stop'
    - substitute xdm for gdm or kdm , whatever you are using.
3. start X the old way from the console.
    'startx'

It is good unix to not 'be' root unless you absolutly have to, when 
using a GUI it prevents mistakes like when I accidently click the close 
button instead of maximise from destroying your a box.

good luck

Ian
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