On Tue, Apr 24, 2007 at 01:58:35PM -0700, David Warman wrote: > >>Performed a mostly default install of the current stable as of > >>yesterday on a PIII with a single HD, which I specified should all be > >>used and should be reformatted. I then discovered that my login user > >>could not use 'sudo'.
> >Known and expected; sudo access is only enabled for the initial > >user account if a root password is not set. > root password was set during installer dialogs. I had imbibed the > idea that all root operations should be performed by the main user(s) > using sudo rather than logging in as root, and that all users > including root have passwords, as the safer way of working, therefore > expected to be a sudoer unconditionally. Ah. The current wisdom is that if you're going to use sudo for everything, it's more secure to not allow direct root logins at all; so the installer uses whether or not a root password is set to toggle enabling of sudo. > >>Also could not login as root to fix the problem on the main login > >>screen. > >By "main login screen", are you referring to the graphical login > >manager > >(gdm)? > yes Ok; so that's a deliberate decision (on the part of the gdm maintainer or the GNOME maintainers, I don't remember which part enforces this), rather than a bug. > >>Also, after executing 'su -' to become root, could not use any X- > >>windows > >>apps, > >With what error? Why did you use 'su -' instead of just 'su'? > the - is supposed to establish root's environment. maybe that has > lapsed lately. was true in AT&T in the 80's. No, it's still true; the question is why you wanted to reset your env with '-', and as you've noticed, that definitely does interfere with running X apps from the resulting shell. > But it does still work, and is why there was no DISPLAY environment > setting. The normal user's one was not propagated by using '-'. Yep. > >>so had to use nano to edit / etc/sudoers. > >>Not something a naive user would be able to handle. > >Why would a "naive user" type "su -" instead of just "su"? > a naive user would not even know about su. So they probably should > not be using Linux then. Heh, ok... > seems to be a usage difference from way back (my expectations) and > current usage. > remember Gilda? No? Anyway, keeping this bug report open for the moment -- the open question seems to be whether the option to enable sudo support should be made more overt in a default install. Cheers, -- Steve Langasek Give me a lever long enough and a Free OS Debian Developer to set it on, and I can move the world. [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.debian.org/ -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
