On Mon, Jun 02, 2003 at 01:33:05PM -0700, BAGGAB wrote: > >Preface: I read yesterday that AOL is partnering with M$ to settle the >browser lawsuit. I suspect Mozilla will be toast in a few months. So I'm >angry and want to get away from M$ as soon as possible. > >So here I am, a Linux newbie with a question. > >Installed RH 8.0 four months ago and I'm still struggling. Some of that >struggle was around a SMC barricade router that I ditched (stopped trying to >get working) yesterday. Some of that struggle is just life: many personal >distractions. I'm telling you this because I don't want you to assume I'm >just lazy and I want someone to fix my problem for me. > >Problem: when I want to logon to internet I use KPPP, but I have to provide >my root password for permission. I am concerned about running root >permissions while connected to the internet. With all the warnings about >operating under root I am assuming that this is a user implemented problem >(self inflicted wound.) >
Certain operations in a UNIX system require root privileges to do; starting a network connection, including a dialup connection, is one of them. While it's appropriate not to use root for ongoing use, it is appropriate to run some commands as root when the time is right. In fact a number of root-privilege programs run constantly while the UNIX system is operating normally. I haven't used KPPP, but it sounds like it prompts for the root password when it runs. I would consider this a safe use of root. It is possible, but more convoluted, to set up sudo to run this so that you would only be prompted for your own account password, or even to run it as root without requiring any password (a practice i would discourage). -- Christos anesti ek nekron Thanato thanaton patisas; Kai tis en tis mnimasi Zoin charisamenos! _______________________________________________ EuG-LUG mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://mailman.efn.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/eug-lug
