Debian User Forums

Onsemeliot wrote:. You still can get it by not creating a root user

I must have been distracted and used the Graphical Install instead of the normal installer.

hrsetrdr wrote:

Onsemeliot wrote:. You still can get it by not creating a root user

I must have been distracted and used the Graphical Install instead of the normal installer.

That part wouldn't matter -- when the user goes with the Graphical install option and the Root password is left blank, you get sudo.

Maybe this text should be revised then ...
'You need to set'


br KH

it is quite clear about what happens when you don't set the password

there is no need to prescriptive

i install sudo and have it use the root password. becomes sometimes i just want to run one command as root.

zocsli62 wrote:Why is it not preferable to use sudo by default in Debian?

it is preferable to use sudo by default in Debian.

MALsPa wrote:

hrsetrdr wrote:

Onsemeliot wrote:. You still can get it by not creating a root user

I must have been distracted and used the Graphical Install instead of the normal installer.

That part wouldn't matter -- when the user goes with the Graphical install option and the Root password is left blank, you get sudo.

The installer has changed in recent times, an installation would not have progressed if the root password had not been set up.

BradleyGuerr wrote:

zocsli62 wrote:Why is it not preferable to use sudo by default in Debian?

it is preferable to use sudo by default in Debian.

Interesting, not so many years ago Debian users were appalled by Ubuntu's default use of sudo.

hrsetrdr wrote:
The installer has changed in recent times, an installation would not have progressed if the root password had not been set up.

My most recent installation was a Buster netinstall in September. I used the Graphical install option and left the Root password blank. The installation did indeed proceed, no Root account, was set, and I'm using sudo on that system. I used this iso: firmware-10.1.0-amd64-netinst.iso

So something has changed since last month? I seriously doubt that.

BradleyGuerr wrote:

zocsli62 wrote:Why is it not preferable to use sudo by default in Debian?

it is preferable to use sudo by default in Debian.

It's a personal choice, not universally preferable. Ultimately it makes zero difference to the rest of the system.
sudo allows fine-grained control of administrative commands in multi-user systems which may be useful for some.

MALsPa wrote:

hrsetrdr wrote:
The installer has changed in recent times, an installation would not have progressed if the root password had not been set up.

So something has changed since last month? I seriously doubt that.

Not last month, "recent times" meaning sometime in the last few years.

Bulkley wrote:Personally, I don't like sudo. To me, it's a cheat.

I'm like you, I don't like sudo either

Dai_trying wrote:I can't directly answer your question but I just wanted to point out that sudo is the default if you do not enter a root password when installing.

I've been using Debian on and off for a decade or two, and I had no idea you could do that!

Thanks!

I don't use sudo but I do have the lighter and simpler "doas" utility on my Gentoo machine. I couldn't see a package on Debian but no doubt one will exist.

https://github.com/slicer69/doas
https://i-bsd.com/doas/

oswaldkelso wrote:I couldn't see a package on Debian but no doubt one will exist

Unfortunately not, I've checked all the WNPP lists

I have packaged it up myself but I'm not comfortable sharing such a security-critical application — my packaging skills are not the best, sadly.

I haven't used sudo since my Ubuntu days, some 14 years ago. I tried sudo again today on a "new" computer, using the command "sudo su -" to enter the root environment with the user password. I like it so far.

Edit: Came across this. Are the points still valid?

https://www.openwall.com/lists/owl-users/2004/10/20/6

People communicate using words grammatically arranged in sentences, paragraphs, chapters and even books. Yet, some peope find it difficult to use a textual command in a terminal! I cannot understand, struggling with a maze of graphical windows is harder to me, especially, those 'new age' little images, which expect users to remember what they stand for. Using a dumb-phone, err no, a smart-phone, is one such glaring example. Humanity has evolved to use languages, use those. However, it seems, the whole world is at full speed to go back to when it only communcated using body movements and images.

Sorry, I cannot understand this perverted form of progress.

Hi edbarx - it's good to see that You're still around

1. I was really surprised when for the first time I've reviewed the sudo program code - it is unbelievably big and complex program.
IMO using sudo is far more safe than direct usage of root account, f.e. because by default it limits the time for password-less access with root privileges.

2. The UINX language (IMO) is the most advanced method for users to interact with the computer. The problem is, just like in case of any other foreign language, that the users have to learn it.
Most of people are *not* willing to use command line interface, because they don't know the UNIX philosophy: knowing only a few tens of "words" from the UNIX language allows to "ask" the system to do just anything, starting from listing directory entries and ending with complex OS queries, similarly to what SQL offers -> the only limit for the query content is the user's imagination.