From owner-freebsd-questions Wed Oct 27 2: 6:40 1999 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from axl.noc.iafrica.com (axl.noc.iafrica.com [196.31.1.175]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 482151536D for ; Wed, 27 Oct 1999 02:06:34 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from sheldonh@axl.noc.iafrica.com) Received: from sheldonh (helo=axl.noc.iafrica.com) by axl.noc.iafrica.com with local-esmtp (Exim 3.040 #1) id 11gP2H-0008n3-00; Wed, 27 Oct 1999 11:06:25 +0200 From: Sheldon Hearn To: Michael Rothenberg Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Root and other super users In-reply-to: Your message of "Tue, 26 Oct 1999 12:14:12 -0400." <3.0.3.32.19991026121412.00728cd8@slider> Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 11:06:25 +0200 Message-ID: <33792.941015185@axl.noc.iafrica.com> Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Tue, 26 Oct 1999 12:14:12 -0400, Michael Rothenberg wrote: > What exactly is the difference between root and a super user? The superuser has the user id 0 which is magic, while root is just a username whose user id is usually 0. :-) > Everyone says that I should have an addition user that I log in as to > su and then perform various maint. stuff. That is correct. You should do your own personal mucking about as a non-priveledged user. You should become the superuser only when you need to fiddle with the system. > Doesnt a su have all the power of root? Or, only the power that root > grants to the wheel group? Confusing. must read more. Yes. The su(8) manpage. :-) Ciao, Sheldon. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message