Understanding the Linux Root
- by Zac
I've been using Linux (Ubuntu) for about 2 weeks now and am still struggling with some basic concept surrounding the root user:
(1) Some terminal operations (such as making subdirectories inside a FHS directory such as /opt) require me to prefix the command with sudo - why? I guess what I'm choking on is: if I'm already logged in as a valid system user, why do I have to be a superuser/root in order to modify things that the sysadmin has already deemed me worthy of accessing?
(2) Is there a GUI (Gnome, KDE) equivalent to sudo? Is there a way to assume a superuser role through a graphical context, rather than from inside a new shell?
(3) I can't access the /root directory logged in as myself... but I installed the system to begin with and was never asked to create a root account! How do I log in as root and gain access to /root?!?
Thanks for all feedback & input!