Nick has mostly the right ideas about editing files as root.

> when you run YAST you run it from your normal user session (lets call
> that user ralph), so everything else on your screen is running as ralph,
> but YAST runs under the root user id. Thats why you have to give the
> root password to start it.

Yes! That's when you start yast via the start-button. If you start yast
by typing yast2 into a shell, it'll run as whatever the user is running
the shell, usually ralph. Running yast as other than root may show you
some system settings, but serves no other useful purpose.

Never log in as root on the graphical login screen!! (Well you can, but
it's bad practise.)

> su -

Yes, this will switch that shell to root (and all programs started from
it), but won't enable graphics apps because the authentication for
accessing the graphics system is not carried forward from ralph to root.

If you want to enable the graphics system as well, instead use

sux -

> 4. if you want to run graphical clients, like a gui editor, as root then

> xhost +localhost

Never ever do this. Scratch this command out of your memory and forget
it ever existed, you never need it these days, unless you specifically
want to be able to

> now any user on your machine can connect to your X server

which I can't however see a normal use for.

If another person wants to log in graphically, start a new session from
the start button (as I mentioned in my talk). You can also do this when
the screen is locked by someone else.

> [2] i do not know the effect of editing /var/lib/YaST2/you/youservers -

No problems. Just observe the easily guessed file format. Yast will
only read it on startup, so editing it while yast is running means you
have to restart the YOU part of yast.

Volker

-- 
Volker Kuhlmann                 is possibly list0570 with the domain in header
http://volker.dnsalias.net/             Please do not CC list postings to me.

Reply via email to