Don't turn off security features, customise them!

I’ve noticed a worrying trend recently. People seem to be hell bent on ‘turning off’ prompts for the root password to perform various admin level tasks because it’s ‘annoying’. In a similar way, one of the main criticisms of Vista has been User Access Control and much has been written about turning that off. Indeed, Microsoft seem to have taken this criticism on board and allows users to easily turn UAC off! Great! Just because users are lazy and impatient, turn security off!

So, before this trend takes hold and wrecks Linux security I’d urge people to take a few moments to consider how to customise the inherent protection we enjoy rather than defeating it! I personally don’t use it much but I’m sure a little creative use of sudo is the answer as per ofaring’s post not long ago.

I have been toying with the idea of granting users permission to add/remove programs using Synaptic without the prompt for the root password. As and when I work out a procedure to get this achieved in a seamless manner, I’ll be sure to post it. With a little thought I’m sure we can have convenience and security!