Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2000 12:04:59 -0800 From: R Joseph Wright <rjoseph@nwlink.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: window manager question Message-ID: <3873A3EB.58082BFB@nwlink.com> References: <200001051806.TAA36854@dorifer.heim3.tu-clausthal.de>
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Oliver Fromme wrote:
>
> Jonathon McKitrick <jcm@dogma.freebsd-uk.eu.org> wrote in list.freebsd-questions:
> > On Wed, 5 Jan 2000, R Joseph Wright wrote:
> >>Why do you need toor to use a different shell? I run root using bash
> >>because sh and csh are annoying. Whenever I've had to do a repair and
> >>my /usr partition is not mounted, it defaults to sh.
> >
> > I just read somewhere (on this list) that it is good practice to leave the
> > root account alone, and not change the shell. But apparently this isn't
> > really a big deal.
>
> Indeed, it's not a big deal (at least on FreeBSD), but it's
> really good practive. There are UNIX systems on which you run
> into trouble if you change root's login shell (for example,
> single-user mode might stop to work -- this is a non-issue on
> FreeBSD, because it asks you for the shell when it goes into
> single-user mode).
>
> However, there are other reasons for leaving the root shell as
> it is. For example, on a "big" box with several admins,
> changing root's shell would break POLA. When I log into a
> UNIX box as root for some reason, I _expect_ it to have csh as
> login shell -- everything else would be confusing. I can type
> ``/bin/sh -E'' anytime if I really want.
>
> And finally, I tend to modify as few standard settings as
> possible. If there's no good reason to change something, then
> I don't change it. And IMO there is no good reason to change
> root's login shell.
>
> For the above reasons (and because of "good practice"), I never
> change root's login shell. Instead, I use ``su -m'' (as a
> normal user) to become root, which causes my root shell to be
> the same as my normal user shell (which happens to be zsh).
> In fact, my ``su'' is an alias for ``su -m''.
>
> This is especially convenient on servers where multiple admins
> work, because every admin can have his own favourite shell when
> working as root, independent of all others, without having to
> dictate a certain shell on anybody, and (last but not least)
> without having to change root's login shell, so in case of
> emergency you can be certain that a csh will be there for you.
>
> Regards
> Oliver
>
> PS: No, I don't like csh either. :-)
Does this mean that generally I should never login as root, even for
example when installing a new port? I should do su instead? If that's
the case, is there an rc file that I can use to get my su shell to
behave as my user shell? For example, I like for the prompt to show my
user name and current working directory.
>
> --
> Oliver Fromme, Leibnizstr. 18/61, 38678 Clausthal, Germany
> (Info: finger userinfo:olli@dorifer.heim3.tu-clausthal.de)
>
> "In jedem Stück Kohle wartet ein Diamant auf seine Geburt"
> (Terry Pratchett)
>
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--
Best Regards, Joseph
You will do foolish things,
but do them with enthusiasm. Colette.
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