Whoop-de-flippin'-do

[RubbishBin]

I bought this copy of PCPro see, it has a disk in it that lets you install Ubuntu Linux 10.04 LTS Desktop Edition see, and like, I do that, so I gets a wonderful dual boot system see, oh by the way, I've done all this on my Compaq nx6325, a laptop by HP (not in the strictest sense a "Desktop"), anyway, in order to install stuff I have to get the cursor in the terminal to allow me to become "root" (all you Aussies stop giggling), and guess what, it's off-flippin'-limits, init? So what do I do to get myself a "root" (all you Aussies, stop guffawing) classification? Can it be done on a laptop, can it be done on an HP laptop? Oh, and one other thing, WIRELESS NETWORKING and why it won't find my Netgear router?

Oh, gone is the day
Of the good ol' plug 'n' play
And now an application
Requires real installation
I should have gave a damn
When it came time to program
An' now I gotta call it in
Coz my brain's a RubbishBin

Help me, please.

[MikeTbob]

Hello and Welcome.
For Ubuntu, you need to use sudo instead of root.

sudo commandname

(password)

[reed9]

You do not have to use the terminal to install stuff. Ubuntu has a couple of different GUI programs for installing software as well as they're new software center.

Wireless is probably because your wireless card requires non-free software than Ubuntu can't ship. It's generally easy enough to get it working, but we need to know the chipset of the card.

From a terminal, post the output of

lspci -vnn
lsmod

More info on Ubuntu and how to use it:
Ubuntu:Lucid -
Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04 Post Installation Guide - my-guides.net

[smolloy]

To get a root prompt, you can do this,

sudo -s

Then type your password.

[jonsg]

As others have said, you can't login directly as root. This is deliberate; it prevents root password hacking. Furthermore, only administrative users can escalate their permissions to "root" level. The login you set up during the installation process will be administrative.

To get root privileges, you should log in as an administrative user first. Start up a terminal, and then use "sudo bash" - you use your own password - to get yourself a root prompt. Better still, just issue the command you'd have wanted to issue as root, but prefix it with "sudo " - it's not a great idea to risk having root prompts open indefinitely.

If you want to run a GUI program from the command line, use gksudo in place of sudo.

[jsonder]

Open terminal and enter:

sudo passwd root

enter your password at the first prompt,
enter the root password at the next two prompts

go to "system", then "administration: and then "login screen" and revise things to allow root to log in.

[jonsg]

Open terminal and enter:

sudo passwd root

NO! You're trolling, surely? You are making root vulnerable to anyone with access to a keyboard and a login prompt, and non-administrative users who can now attempt to crack the password programatically. You're also making it far more likely that someone passing could find a root shell open and ready for hacking.

This kind of vulnerability is exactly what the Unix/Linux world has been trying to move away from, ever since Bell Labs Version 7, which is where I came in.

[jsonder]

mandatory 10+ characters

[jonsg]

mandatory 10+ characters

You can have more characters than a Mexican soap opera, it doesn't protect you from passers-by (or ingenious hackers) opportunistically exploiting an open root shell session.

sudo protects you, particularly if you use it per command rather than to open a root shell: after a few minutes, you have to enter your own password again, which leaves opportunists out in the cold.