Proper way to open apps as root in X

[AnInkedSoul]

I did, and got the same results as in the link I posted. I tried it in CrunchBang 9.04, which is Ubuntu-based.

well this is the debian user forums and here we discuss debian....sorry

[jollysnowman]

I did, and got the same results as in the link I posted. I tried it in CrunchBang 9.04, which is Ubuntu-based.

well this is the debian user forums and here we discuss debian....sorry

I can test it on debian later, but I don't think there would be a different implementation of sudo in debian, especially since Ubuntu is debian-based. Either way, I'll report later.

AnInkedSoul, I really advise you to be more helpful in your posts. I asked you to elaborate, and you gave me a one word response. I'm not a troll, and I do my best to remain friendly, if a bit dry; I've already had my fair share of Internet debates in a handful of different forums. Providing a meaningless post is the same as not providing one at all. You would do everyone a favor by putting some thought into what you submit.

[AnInkedSoul]

I am being concise. Nothing meaningless about it. A sufficient answer is sufficient.

[Jackiebrown]

I did, and got the same results as in the link I posted. I tried it in CrunchBang 9.04, which is Ubuntu-based.

That happens to me as well. It was a real issue when you use sudo to run an installer and the installer launched the game for you. You had to go back and change the the ownership in your home file (/home/user/.doom3) to yourself unless you wanted to always have to play the game as root.

Heck, this happened to me with dolphin once (i ran sudo dolphin before ever running it as a user) and really messed with my kde install. It took me a while to figure out why dolphin wouldn't start after that.

That said, this was in ubuntu for me as well. Maybe it is different for ubuntu since there is no root account for it to use. When I set up sudo in debian, it is for specific programs that I would probably never run as a regular user (synaptic comes to mind.)

[mzilikazi]

I thought sudo

You should rethink

Can you elaborate? As it is, your post doesn't really help.

What he's saying is that gksudo is just a link to the real executable gksu. This is apparently an Ubuntu thing. Check for yourself:

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ls -al $(which gksudo) 

[dbbolton]

What he's saying is that gksudo is just a link to the real executable gksu. This is apparently an Ubuntu thing. Check for yourself:

Code: Select all

ls -al $(which gksudo) 

It is not just an Ubuntu thing:

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root@ganymed:~# cat /etc/issue 
Debian GNU/Linux squeeze/sid \n \l

root@ganymed:~# file /usr/bin/gksudo       
/usr/bin/gksudo: symbolic link to `gksu'

# followed by aptitude purge gksu sudo

[AnInkedSoul]

to clarify.....

I thought sudo shouldn't be used for opening applications (as opposed to doing stuff on the command line)? I remember reading somewhere that when sudo opens an application, it uses the user's config settings for that application instead of root's and bad things happen.

It is perfectly fine in debian to open graphical apps using sudo.

Edit: Also, gksudo exists. I've definitely seen it in Ubuntu.

gksu is the actual program whereas gksudo is a symlink

Edit #2: http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/graphicalsudo

That page may be accurate in regards to ubuntu but it is not accurate in regards to debian.

Jollysnowman knows all this already....

[slowcoach]

Difference between "su" and "su -" explained http://www.linfo.org/su.html

[secipolla]

sux is not needed for the root user. It looks like that's a misconception that came from sidux (maybe it was once needed?).
sux is used if one wants to open graphical apps as a different unprivileged user.

[craigevil]

HOWTO - get kdesu back to normal in KDE4 - http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=40158



This one is actually pretty easy. In a terminal here is what you do:
Anywhere you see ## just after that is instructions you do NOT have to type the text directly AFTER the ## signs,
what you have to type will either be BEFORE the ## on a line or the line will have NO ## signs.

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   ##first type in:
    su

    ##after you hit enter you will see
    Password:         ##<----------- type in your root password here.

    ##Now you will see your prompt change from a $ to a # sign

    ##Don't worry, almost done now...

    ##type:

    ln -s /usr/lib/kde4/libexec/kdesu /usr/bin/kdesu

    ##hit enter, then type:
    exit

    ##You are now back to your regular user in your terminal. Lets test that puppy out!

    kdesu dolphin

    ##The normal kdesu dialog should pop up asking for roots password with the explanation that the program 
    ##dolphin needs root permissions. You can just cancel the dialog box since it was only a test to see if the link
    ##worked.