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Distribution: Kali and AVLinux, seems I lean towards the Debian side of things
Posts: 61
Rep:
File Systems
I'm almost afraid to ask this, as I received a ton of unsolicited advice and berating due to the fact that I run Kali and use the root account. If you feel like reminding me how dangerous what I do is, kindly keep it to yourself, thank you.
AVLinux is built upon Debian and comes with Xfce, Kali is based upon Debian and I have it with Xfce. The file systems are slightly different. Kali has a "Desktop" directory so anything placed in home goes there instead of on the desktop. AVLinux has no "Desktop" directory so when anything is placed in to the home directory goes straight to the desktop. The particular home directory is in the root account. I tend to place programs there because I prefer short filepaths as I'm a poor typist. I'd fixed it once, but for the life of me I can't recall how.
Please don't be concerned about asking a question.
You seem to be describing differences between to Linux distributions and how they organize files. Therefore nothing specific seems to be broken.
You do say you fixed it once, but can't recall how. This is fine, we've all been there.
What would be helpful is if you could more clearly describe what you think is broken that you want to fix, and what you want the result to be.
I'd recommend sticking with one thing at a time, such as "You're running (A)Linux. It does (1), and instead you want it to do (2)"
Describing what another distribution does, merely tells readers that you know of different ways to organize files, it however doesn't tell people what you want.
Haven't really used Kali, and have never used AVLinux, but it appears AVLinux is displays the user's home directory as the desktop. I just ran into that situation when I updated Ubuntu 17.04 this morning. The cure has was:
Copy the files /etc/xdg/user-dirs.conf to $HOME/.config/user-dirs.dir
Edit the line that starts with XDG_DESKTOP_DIR to read
Code:
XDG_DESKTOP_DIR="$HOME/Desktop"
Save the edited file, then log out and log back in
Distribution: Slackware (current), Slack15, win10 that is just there beacuse I have a copy of it
Posts: 10,093
Rep:
xfce I got a desktop directory within my home directory, I do not remember exactly where in xfce4 but it has a setting to show it on the desktop or not. I'd look within xfce settings and see if I could find that.
Distribution: Mainly Devuan with some NetBSD & Haiku thrown in.
Posts: 4,833
Rep:
Quote:
The particular home directory is in the root account. I tend to place programs there because I prefer short filepaths as I'm a poor typist. I'd fixed it once, but for the life of me I can't recall how.
To run programs that are in your home directory, you use ./(progname) - (normally programs that are in your PATH statement can be run from anywhere).
To not have to use long pathnames, use an alias, (as mentioned above), or use a (soft) link.
Distribution: Slackware (current), Slack15, win10 that is just there beacuse I have a copy of it
Posts: 10,093
Rep:
two:
(one being @fatmac post)
I do not do this a lot but sometimes I even just make a script and place it in my /home/scriptName that within the script it calls to execute a program. I only do this when I have one I know I will forget what its called. So having that script in my /home/ScriptName assists me in recalling what that program name is. Then all I have to do is ./SctiptName even and it starts the program.
that maybe seen as an idiosyncrasy but then that is prob what it is.
Furthermore,
you do not even need to use /bin/bash just added the name of the program inside the script then make it executable. Because like that one post above this stated. PATH is set to whatever directory it is stored in.
If you want to keep "your stuff" separate then you can still do so. This is what the /opt directory is intended for. Though elsewhere too can work. All that might be required is adding it to your PATH statement.
Soft Links help aid in this as well. Just add a soft link to whatever executable you have. No Matter where it is within your system. Then just link it to inside of /usr/bin which is already in your PATH so all you have to do is write the program name or whatever you named it using a soft link on the command line (or bashscript) and it starts.
No absolute path needed to be given to get it to start.
Distribution: Kali and AVLinux, seems I lean towards the Debian side of things
Posts: 61
Original Poster
Rep:
Thank you
Thank you everyone. I do think I am running into differences in distros file structuring. Aliases are something I do need to learn, I just ran across them while doing something else, but then never got back. Until then I will try Rock Doctor's suggestion. Again, thank you very much
Glad you got it solved.
with all that said, there really is a reason why one shouldn't be root all the time, especially when connecting to the internet.
kali linux runs as root with good reason, but it is not designed for daily use, i.e. browsing the internet etc.!
I've been using AVLinux a few years back, they didn't run as root then, and I don't think they do now.
For both distros, I cannot imagine the sort of vulnerabilities you are opening your system up to when connecting to the internet as root.
even puppy linux, a distro that uses the root account by default, have come up with a sort of "reverse sudo" (i.e. run as unprivileged user) for e.g. starting the web browser! think about that for a while.
it seems you have your mind set and won't listen to reason, but i just wanted to mention these things.
this sort of rebellion has been the privilege of very young adults across the ages, but it always baffles me how someone wants to rebel against a computer operating system - it seems to me there's much more important and relevant things to want to change, IRL.
Distribution: Kali and AVLinux, seems I lean towards the Debian side of things
Posts: 61
Original Poster
Rep:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ondoho
Glad you got it solved.
with all that said, there really is a reason why one shouldn't be root all the time, especially when connecting to the internet.
kali linux runs as root with good reason, but it is not designed for daily use, i.e. browsing the internet etc.!
I've been using AVLinux a few years back, they didn't run as root then, and I don't think they do now.
For both distros, I cannot imagine the sort of vulnerabilities you are opening your system up to when connecting to the internet as root.
even puppy linux, a distro that uses the root account by default, have come up with a sort of "reverse sudo" (i.e. run as unprivileged user) for e.g. starting the web browser! think about that for a while.
it seems you have your mind set and won't listen to reason, but i just wanted to mention these things.
this sort of rebellion has been the privilege of very young adults across the ages, but it always baffles me how someone wants to rebel against a computer operating system - it seems to me there's much more important and relevant things to want to change, IRL.
Yeah, AVLinux works best as a regular user. I just go in as root to set things up, it's just easier than sudoing and entering password a bunch of times. I've Slacko Puppy at church and here in virtualbox and it has no option for making a non-root user.
Sure Kali was designed for a different purpose than what I use it for. I like the os. I like it better than most others I've tried. Although when I learn enough I want to bu1ld an arch, ah dreams
Yeah, AVLinux works best as a regular user. I just go in as root to set things up, it's just easier than sudoing and entering password a bunch of times. I've Slacko Puppy at church and here in virtualbox and it has no option for making a non-root user.
If you have a lot of little jobs to do as root, try
sudo su
That lets you become the administrator for any number of commands with only your usual password. To end, type Control+d.
Puppy is supposed to run in the memory, loaded from DVD, USB, or a file on the HD (what they call a frugal install}. That way, if anything nasty happens, it stops the moment Puppy is shut down and the memory lost. Web-browsers are run an a virtual user rather than root, so anyone who hacks the browser will not be root.
it's just easier than sudoing and entering password a bunch of times.
why not try this instead:
Quote:
Originally Posted by man sudoers
passwd_timeout Number of minutes before the sudo password prompt times out, or 0 for no
timeout. The timeout may include a fractional component if minute granu‐
larity is insufficient, for example 2.5. The default is 5.
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