Path: utzoo!yunexus!geac!david From: david@geac.UUCP (David Haynes) Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions Subject: Re: Workstations: good reasons for owner root access Message-ID: <3156@geac.UUCP> Date: 13 Aug 88 11:26:28 GMT Article-I.D.: geac.3156 References: <125@leibniz.UUCP> Reply-To: david@geac.UUCP (David Haynes) Organization: Champion of Lost Causes Everywhere Lines: 32 In article <125@leibniz.UUCP> tpc@leibniz.UUCP (Tom Chmara) writes: >...... However, our support organization (the Evil Empire) is aghast >that INDIVIDUAL USERS should want root access to their own workstations. > The prevailing attitude in the E.E. is that people are going to mess >up bad, that they don't need the access, and that they're going to >be uneducated and irresponsible. I like to think better of my >co-workers. Regardless, just because I claim that everyone here >is of sterling quality doesn't wash. As a system administrator in a (small) workstation environment, I think I should make a small plea for a voice of reason here. I don't, as a rule, give out root passwords to every Tom, Dick or Susan who asks for it, but I do give root access to those individuals who are competant enough (in my opinion) to have it. Why so? The releasing of the root password, even on a single workstation, can spell some long hours of recovery on your part as the result of a typical novice Unix user's mistake (such as rm * .tmp in the root directory). However, it is equally a pain in the ass to have to su somebody in and out of root perms because they are installing a package on their workstation that has root level daemons or requires other "high" privileges. Basically, I try to use common sense wherever possible. -david- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- David Haynes Geac Computers Canada Ltd. Telephone: +1 416 475 0525 350 Steelcase Road West, FAX : +1 416 475 3847 Markham, Ontario, CANADA. L3R 1B3 UUCP : utgpu!geac!david Official Keeper of the Canadian X11 Sources Repository