root on Mac

[Don Ellis]

I'm not sure what you mean by "permission problems" -- The default  
condition in OSX is that the root account is disabled and  
administrative functions must be done with sudo (cli), or, in the  
GUI, the user must (when challenged) enter a userid and password that  
have administrative privilege. If logged on as a non-admin user, you  
can usually enter a different userid when prompted. I don't recall  
any difference when I was working on a Solaris or OSF system last  
Autumn.

To get around these restrictions, one can "sudo su - root" or enable  
root login, either of which requires special attention to what you  
do. Logging on as a non-admin user is recommended, but awkward.

Of course, when using any M$ product, all bets are off.

And, when it comes to "repairing permissions", that is uncomfortable  
to former "PC" users, accustomed to being the only user on the  
system. Yes, periodic repairs are recommended.

--Don Ellis


On Feb 14, 2007, at 9:30 AM, lowell wrote:

> Folks:
>    A friend works on Macs exclusively and an announcement of an M$  
> Word
> vulnerability went across one of the sites she visits. This  
> engendered a
> discussion of his habit of always working with administrative rights ,
> and  separate root accounts  and being able to "su -" in a terminal.
> Then I (we) remembered that one must "verify..." and then "repair
> permissions" on a regular basis, even when working with administrative
> permissions all the time. I recall hearing that that is a common  
> failing
> in the recent MacOS's (X.*)
>    I remember some people on this list speaking of working with or  
> using
> Mac's; would anyone care to comment on this situation, i.e. working as
> root (that's what it amounts to) and still having permission  
> problems...