At 18:21 -0400 5/3/13, Anne Keller-Smith wrote: >Okay, I have an iMac running Snow Leopard, and way back in the stone age >(2009) after I turned it on I set up an account with a username and password, >then forgot about it except when installing software, where it asked for my >username and password. Ditto with my son's machine, very close model (2008) >which I recently bequeathed to my parents after said kid wanted to build a >Windows PC to play games (!) > >We wiped the drive, did a fresh install of Snow Leopard, and I gave parents >their own username and password, but is this an Admin account? Is this wrong? >Should they be using a plain User account and should I be giving them a new >username password for that? (Don't want to confuse the old birds) Should I be >doing the same on my machine as well? I'm looking now and I'm logged in a >Administrator, I think I've been logged in this way since 2008. > >Guess I thought Root and Administrator were the same thing (not at all!) and >on Googling, find out really we have three layers of user types. Also I see >Apple suggests disabling Root and not using an Admin account for daily work, >instead creating a plain User for that. > >Ow! My head hurts. Is that what you all do? Have three different sets of >Usernames/Passwords for three levels? > >On any of our machines there's only one user, so I guess we've been running >them in Admin all this time. > >I'm afraid to disable Root, and have no clue if I assigned it a >Username/Password, I thought I did but maybe that is Admin ... >
The lady and I have admin accounts on all machines. Root is not disabled Everything has worked fine for years. But we are both computer users since well before the Apple Macintosh showed its head. And. . . there are no children or grandparents in the immediate vicinity. Teenagers can and will use root and admin if they can and you won't like what they do. Grandparents can try things thinking that they know what they're doing and mess things up. So can cats. So can visitors if you leave your machine up and running while you're logged in as administrator. Root and admin are more similar than you think. Root is needed only if you use Terminal.app or boot up in single user mode. If you don't then take Apple's advice. Distant bad guys over the internet who try to "get root" are no longer something to worry about. A non-admin account for daily tasks prevents you from making silly typographic mistakes. Probably a good idea especially if you're writing code or Applescripts. You'll need to use the admin for installing software. Visitor or guest accounts with no special privileges make sense if others want to show you something once in a while. You can use groups to provide access to selected files. Write down those passwords and keep them with your guns and ammunition. -- --> From the U S of A, the only socialist country that refuses to admit it. <-- -- -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "G-Group" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
