On 2019-03-10, Default User <hunguponcont...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Curt, I often use sudo [command] even when not needed, because the sudo > elevated privileges state "times out" after several minutes, reverting to > unprivileged user state. So if I need to enter another command with > elevated privileges after the elevated privilege state expires, I have to > re-enter the password again, instead of just sudo [command]. > > I guess i'm just lazy.
I don't use sudo and was unaware of this timeout feature. The timeout interval is configurable, though. man sudoers: timestamp_timeout Number of minutes that can elapse before sudo will ask for a passwd again. The timeout may include a fractional component if minute granularity is insufficient, for example 2.5. The default is 15. Set this to 0 to always prompt for a password. If set to a value less than 0 the user's time stamp will not expire until the system is rebooted. -- The advisability of lengthening or eliminating the timeout is probably related to the possibility of the kitty (and other, less cool cats) creeping by to paw a detrimental command or two into your privileged xterm while you're out grilling one on the stoop. -- “Let us again pretend that life is a solid substance, shaped like a globe, which we turn about in our fingers. Let us pretend that we can make out a plain and logical story, so that when one matter is despatched--love for instance-- we go on, in an orderly manner, to the next.” - Virginia Woolf, The Waves