Run as Root Shortcut

SLP · 04-20-2006, 01:29 PM

Ok this I what I am trying to do...

I want to have a shortcut that will run a program as root.

for example: I want an icon(shortcut) in my desktop that'll instantly run a program as root

like firefox or Gimp running as root

Can it be done and how?

I know I can go into the console; su, password, then Gimp/firefox

but i want and icon/shortcut that can do that automatically

can anyone help? thankyou!

kilgoretrout · 04-20-2006, 02:08 PM

You can do it in kde but you will have to enter the root password before it will launch. Make a launch icon on your desktop as usual. Then right click on the icon and go to Properties>Application tab>Advanced button then tick the "Run as a different user" box. In the relevant field type in "root" w/o quotes. That should do it; the next time you launch the app a box will come up prompting you for the root password then the app will launch with root privileges.

SLP · 04-20-2006, 10:03 PM

^ cool thanks......got firefox working like that,but for some reason Gimp doesn't work it asks for the password but never starts any ideas

J.W. · 04-21-2006, 02:45 AM

Not to scold but running regular apps as root is not a good idea. Root should only be used sparingly, in specific situations (such as installing a new package or recompiling the kernel, etc).

Out of curiosity what is the rationale for running Firefox as root?

SLP · 04-21-2006, 10:35 AM

^ Becuause I use Baghira style
And Bghira style gives programs that run with gtk-qt(like firefox)an error like this:

GLib-GObject-CRITICAL **: g_object_unref: assertion
`G_IS_OBJECT (object)' failed

so instead of not using firefox I use it as root and it works.

edit: but I can run it as another user...... you know what I am going to do that. Thankz for bringing up the root situation.Dont want to mess anything up.