never ran into this before but....
I am trying to log into the GUI for package management and it will not accept my root password????

If I urpme in Shell it takes it fine --

I am sure I am typing it right --

Is this a bug or something ---

Are you attempting to log into a GUI session as the root user, or are you attempting to enter the root password in a dialog box when you start the Package Manager?

If you are attempting to log into a GUI session as the root user, that ability is disabled by default in Mandriva Linux as a safety (security) measure.

When you start the Package Manager in a regular user GUI session, a dialog box requesting your root password should pop up so you should not need to log in as root to do this.

HTH,

you bring up a good point -- IF i gave root permissions to a normal user I suspect this may be the same thing as you describe?
AM i Correct?

While you're logged-in as a user, try calling drakrpm from a console instead, like this,

su (enter root password)
drakrpm

then when your finished, type exit.

Regards, Glenn

I think so. Any user account that has full root authority can be as devastating to the system as the root account if it should be exploited. For example, if you are logged in as the root user and surf the WEB to a nefarious site (perhaps unknowingly) that executes code on your system, the code that is executed is executed with root authority because the WEB browser is being run under the root account. Any time a child process runs, it runs with the privileges of the parent.

On the other hand, there are things that must be done on a Linux system that should require root authority. One such task is software management. For this reason, the Mandriva GUI Package Manager can be started from a regular user account, but it will request the root password or refuse to make any changes to the system. The Mandriva Control Center (a collection of GUI system administrative and configuration utilities) works the same way.

If you need to run a tool (as root) from the command line, you can open a terminal window, enter su at the command prompt then your root password when requested to switch to a root session and run the tool. When you are finished with the tool, you switch back to the regular session in the terminal window with the CTRL+D keyboard combination. Use of this combination a second time will close the terminal window.

By keeping the use of the root account to a minimum (running a single application rather than a full session, or running a root session in a terminal window, but only for the time required to complete a needed task) you reduce the potential threat to system security and you reduce the chances you will forget you are logged in as root and do something that could compromise your system.

One thing I like most about Linux is the system security, but system security is only as strong as the user allows it to be. If you develop good usage behavior, it is relatively easy to have a very secure system. I use the standard security setting here. It is adequate because my system is not a server, and I have a hardware firewall between my computer and the Internet. I also use the interactive firewall that comes with Mandriva. System security should be a bit like the layers of an onion. Peel one layer away and there is another to deal with. It should also make it more work than what it's worth if (or when) the bad guy gets through your defenses.

HTH,