Gentoo Archives: gentoo-dev

From: Zack Gilburd <zack@×××××××××.com>
To: Stroller <root@××××××××××××××××××.uk>, gentoo-dev@g.o
Subject: Re: [gentoo-dev] I've Got Root Was: Re: [gentoo-dev] Good Work, Lads!
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 00:44:46
Message-Id: 200306251740.02442.zack@tehunlose.com
In Reply to: [gentoo-dev] I've Got Root Was: Re: [gentoo-dev] Good Work, Lads! by Stroller
1 On Wednesday 25 June 2003 17:21, Stroller wrote:
2 > Yeah, I was really quite astonished by the previous message in respect to
3 > my email address. I don't really know yet how to react to it, which is why
4 > I haven't changed my addy.
5
6 Sorry about that, sir. :)
7
8 > I was initially quite offended that someone had mailed me to advise me "not
9 > to read mail as root" - I felt quite patronised. Do people really do
10 > that..?
11
12 Again, I am sorry for patronising you. However, as a fellow Linux sysadmin, I
13 feel that it is almost my obligation to inform others of their practices that
14 I believe to be insecure. :)
15
16 > If there really are folks out there reading mail from their root account (I
17 > mean, _is this possible?_), surely we need to be educating them better..?
18
19 Indeed. When users come into #gentoo or such with the ident of root, I
20 promptly inform them that IRCing as root is hardly wise (even less so than
21 [reading|sending] one's mail as root ;)). I know that #debian has *!root@*
22 banned in their channel -- but I am not suggesting we emulate their channel
23 ethics heh.
24
25 > Maybe the NEED for a regular user should be spelled out more explicitly in
26 > the Gentoo installation documents. I see now that the subject is rather
27 > brushed over by a single line containing a link the the FAQ & the question
28 > "Everyone seems to think that i shouldn't be using root for everyday use,
29 > how can i add another user?"
30 >
31 > Maybe superadduser should be part of the base stages installation..?
32 > Instructions to `superadduser yournamehere` could be placed right before
33 > the setting-root-password section of the installation guide; the root
34 > password section could contain the explanation:
35 > "the root password is used in conjunction with the `su` command when you
36 > need to perform administrative tasks on your Gentoo box".
37
38 I do believe that the installation docs suggest that users create a normal
39 user account and conduct all web-related activities (besides fetching
40 distfiles, logically) such as irssi through this user.
41
42 > Since completion of a stage-3 install is intended to provide a complete, if
43 > minimal, Gentoo-Linux installation, ISTM that adding a non-root user is
44 > perhaps an essential, rather than an optional, part of the process.
45
46 This is entirely correct. When I first started using Linux (I was ~7 then and
47 I began with Slack 7.1, so I am not too old now, either ;)), I figured: "Hey,
48 why not use the root account for doing everything?" My Windows-user mindset
49 of it's-okay-to-use-the-Administrator-account-for-everything had mislead me
50 to think the same of Linux. OT, but the only operating system that has
51 touched any box that I own has been Linux for the last ~8 months.
52
53 > The root address was originally a joke. Like on those "I've got root"
54 > t-shirts at the GeekStore. When my ISP asked me what
55 > address@×××××××××××××××××××.uk I wanted, of course "root" was a cool
56 > choice. I see Spider is associated with a similar organisation.
57
58 I see no problem with this as I explain further below.
59
60 > So I don't know yet whether I'll be changing my address or not. I mean: I
61 > like it. Why should I change it, just because it confounds people..?
62
63 If you are merely logging into an account provided to your by your ISP, then I
64 see no problem with using the username "root." I was under the misimpression
65 that you were using your own mail server and using the root account to send
66 emails. The latter is what I was discouraging against, not the former.
67
68 Regards
69
70 P.S., Sorry for emailing you twice about this thread, Stroller.
71 --
72 Zack Gilburd
73 http://tehunlose.com

Replies

Subject Author
Re: [gentoo-dev] I've Got Root Michael Cummings <mcummings@g.o>