What's the root password on the Debian liveCDs? It apparently isn't "root," and unlike the liveCDs I usually use, the login screen does not reveal the password. I need it because the Debian liveCDs apparently don't include the driver for my wireless card, and I would like to install the driver so the liveCD's installer doesn't get hung up for a long time on trying to detect my network. (It can still go through installation, but only after wasting a lot of time.) If the password is specific to the version, I'm asking about the XFCE i386 version (debian-live-6.0.4-i386-xfce-desktop.iso).

It's bad enough that distro designers make it unduly difficult for users to log in as root. It's worse that they leave out something important that I can't install without root privileges.

Debian Live-CDs normally have sudo enabled without password, IIRC. As is the case with almost any Live-CD out there, I would think.

My experience in installing Debian 5.0.3 several months ago was that sudo was used on the Live/Install CD and there was no password. During the installation a root user was created and sudo was not enabled by default on the installed system.

Oops...I evidently forgot to try sudo instead of su -. That worked. I guess it's only su - that I can't do. It's strictly the principle. For a distro to make it difficult to log in as root is like giving the user a car with the hood locked shut if not welded. I could get the appropriate tools and destroy the locking mechanism, but why should I have to? For instance, in KDE Trinity, /etc/kdm/kdmrc by default contains the line "AllowRootLogins=False," causing KDM to say "root logins are not allowed"; whenever I install Trinity, one of the first things I do is open the kdmrc file (as root, naturally) and change the line to "AllowRootLogins=true."

"UserIsAnIrresponsibleIdiotWhoWillMisuseRoot=false."