Administrator as Root

[offgridguy]

Windows in-built Administrator doesn't have full control. It's an elevated account but, for example, it can't even take ownership of an arbitrary registry key.

And root isn't really disabled in Ubuntu, only locked so that you can't directly log on to it. sudo -i still gives you interactive root shell, so in practice there's little difference.

Thank you for the insight, and especially for pointing out, that root is locked, I was
aware of this but other readers may not be.

[MadmanRB]

Eh there are ways to cheat in Ubuntu to enter applications under root/administration.
But in reality new users should not have the ability to much up the system thus why command line backends are encouraged.
If you are smart enough to know the terminal then you are smart enough to take responsibility for what you do to the OS.
Really being root is over rated, it allows so much to go wrong, this is why windows has so many security issues after all.
Really having to use command line isnt that hard if you have someone guiding you.
For a windows user this seems confusing but linux is not windows.

[offgridguy]

Eh there are ways to cheat in Ubuntu to enter applications under root/administration.
But in reality new users should not have the ability to much up the system thus why command line backends are encouraged.
If you are smart enough to know the terminal then you are smart enough to take responsibility for what you do to the OS.
Really being root is over rated, it allows so much to go wrong, this is why windows has so many security issues after all.
Really having to use command line isnt that hard if you have someone guiding you.
For a windows user this seems confusing but linux is not windows.

Thank you for the input, I don't find it confusing at all. Perhaps frustrating at times. You are right, there are ways
to circumvent the restrictions, for new users these have to be found elsewhere than the forums.

However back to my original post, the only distro where I noticed you could establish a root
account ,has been Fedora, and yes you can do it in ubuntu, once you know how.
Probably for most users it doesn't matter. The advanced user has taken control of their computer, the inexperienced don't even know there are other options. I would place myself
uncomfortably in the middle, too adventurous to be content with being denied access to my
own computer and not advanced enough to do much about it.

[deadflowr]

Really being root is over rated, it allows so much to go wrong,

This is usually my main point in why not to run as root all the time.

As the old line says, "we have seen the enemy, and it is us."

I am, and would be, far more concerned by my own stupidity than someone trying to break into my system.
Though, being protected is a high priority.

[offgridguy]

This is usually my main point in why not to run as root all the time.

As the old line says, "we have seen the enemy, and it is us."

I am, and would be, far more concerned by my own stupidity than someone trying to break into my system.
Though, being protected is a high priority.

Glad you weighed in here,
always appreciate your insight Actually I have never suggested running as root all the time. I have read enough of your posts to ever believe you would need to
be protected from your own stupidity nor would the vast majority of ubuntu
users.

[The Cog]

You are right, there are ways
to circumvent the restrictions, for new users these have to be found elsewhere than the forums.

Your problem is that you are still thinking windows. You think the restrictions are a bad thing. They are not, any more than a guard rail between a walkway and a busy road is a bad thing. It stops you having disasters. On rare occasions there is a need to bypass the protection, but mainly it protects.

Try to get used to the fact that there are two separate functions here - system administration, and using the system. When you are merely using the system, you don't need the root access. I have been using Linux all day. I slipped into the admin role for a few minutes to install updates, and later to run a network packet trace. That's all.

It reminds me of wearing car seat-belts. There was a lot of complaining when it was made compulsory here in the UK, with people complaining about removing their rights. But hospital admissions and death rates dropped. Organ transplants became harder to get, apparently, which is unfortunate for those who are waiting for one. These days, I feel rather vulnerable if I am not wearing a seatbelt. And after a surprise a few years ago, I might not be so stunningly handsome now if I had not been wearing a seatbelt that day.

[Habitual]

Your problem is that you are still thinking windows.

Baby Duck Syndrome?

[offgridguy]

@The Cog, Thank you for the reply, as a neophyte to windows, some years back
i managed to survive, and amazingly so did my computer and Operating System,
without the safeguards that canonical and ubuntu think are so essential.

Totally agree with you about, system use and system administration. The actual
term Administrator is probably not even suited to ubuntu, given what most peope
think when you use the term in windows. In fedora as well the term administrator
refers to the root account.

[haqking]

@The Cog, Thank you for the reply, as a neophyte to windows, some years back
i managed to survive, and amazingly so did my computer and Operating System,
without the safeguards that canonical and ubuntu think are so essential.

Totally agree with you about, system use and system administration. The actual
term Administrator is probably not even suited to ubuntu, given what most peope
think when you use the term in windows. In fedora as well the term administrator
refers to the root account.

no it doesnt, root is root, an administrator is a user with administrative privelege

root is UID 0 and there wont be any other accounts with that UID, including your Administrator account. There is only one ROOT and there can be many administrator accounts.

[offgridguy]

no it doesnt, root is root, an administrator is a user with administrative privelege

root is UID 0 and there wont be any other accounts with that UID, including your Administrator account. There is only one ROOT and there can be many administrator accounts.

Thank you for the edit, good explanation. Maybe I missed something here in Fedora, I don't recall seeing any mention of administrator in regard to my account.
By the way,thanks for the visit.

Upon rereading these posts,there seems to be the misconception that I advocate running as root, at all times, this is simply not the case, I have not suggested that or even intimated that.

To clarify, I prefer the approach that fedora takes, where the root account is established with
a password upon installation, then when functions arise requiring administrative permissions
you are prompted for the root password to fulfill those functions, this doesn't mean running
as root, rather root privileges are quickly and easily available.

I am still wondering which other linux distro's offer a similar feature?

From reading this
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo
and other similar sites, I realize how ubuntu approaches this and why, but that debate was
not what i started this thread for. I have edited the original post to more accurately
address the question.