Quote Originally Posted by halitech View Post
gksu=gksudo, no real difference. sudo and gksu/gksudo still have you running as root but sudo is designed for terminal apps and gksu/gksudo is designed for graphical apps.
In my limited experience, I noticed the sudo only works in the CLI, while gksudo works with the GUI.

(On my system, if i type sudo in the CLI, it prompts for a password, if I create a shortcut like "sudo naulilus", it does nothing since there is no CLI window open to display the password prompt. Whereas "gksudo nautilus" pops up a window prompting me for the root password, then I type it in, nautilus opens as root, and I go about my business)

I find working in the GUI to be easier for most tasks for me, so I have a shortcut to open nautilus as root. Yes I know that technically the CLI is faster, safer, better, etc, but thats only if you are really familiar with the commands. I do find myself using it more and more as I get familiar.

OP: It sounds like creating a shortcut that opens nautilus as root might be what you are looking for.