I personally think that there is value in this thread. But I do feel that some members have not tried to find value in his reasoning for wanting to do somethings that yes(even I) feel goes against the linux best practices. But that is also the best part of linux is that is gives us the power to do what we want.

I also ask that the OP give the community a more detailed reason for wanting to run the whole system as root. That way we can first understand him and his goals, but that will also aid in us helping him to understand our reasoning.

Oh common gentleman stop this now . Its wastage of time. Please stop this and start doing some helpful work for Linux and its lovers. You all are genius with great minds so do the best thing for Linux.

All I hope is that if anyone else reads this thread thinking they'll find out how to run as root all the time, they'll soon get the message that it is a BAD idea!

i only glanced over replies, so i'm sorry if this has already been posted. But I will share a story:

When I first started tinkering with Linux circa 1996, I had the same thought- "Why the hell would i ever run as anything but the superuser, if i could avoid all those pesky warnings/limitations?"

Well, it was only a matter of time until I accidentally typed [COMMAND TO DELETE EVERYTHING]

I won't actually post the command, god forbid it appears out of context on a google search. (it contains an "rm" with a ignore all warnings type of flag, and a root directory).

Lesson learned: root is only to be used when neccessary. And having that access limited helps remind you of the power you wield when used.

Hope this helps. Remember - with root, you can delete EVERYTHING with 9 or less keystrokes.

I make it 8 chars, 6 if you ignore spaces

Well, on Windows you can delete everything with just two key strokes
(Or just one, if I start to exclude from my counting (as chrism01) the Enter key - hehe good one, chrism01).

Still I never deleted my drive until not though I was running Windows for 14 years with all necessary rights to delete, format and break everything.

Is not about security - is about insecurity. Some users feel insecure in having so much power and choose to run without those rights.
I perfectly understand them.

whatever happened to 'dont feed the trolls'?

im all for a bit of light entertainment this evening, but this guys not even funny.


tho this made me snigger a bit
Seriously, dude, i dont think Linux is ready for you. If you want to make Linux work the same as windows, why not just stick to Windows?

Haha dude you really need to relax a bit, you are getting really worked up over computers. Maybe the 11 years (or was it 14? You changed the number...) in front of a screen hasn't been that healthy for you. Take a walk, get some fresh air, maybe ride a bike along the edge of a highway or something.

As to your question, if you want to config root login using the GUI then under System -> Login Window there is a Security tab, and you can set "Allow local system administrator login", and even have it automatically login if you want.