When i logged in as a regular user, and try to use the GUI file browser to access my system files, it always say that i have no permission to do so. Yes, i know i know that i can su to root in the terminal to access the system files, but what i want to ask is how to su to root in GUI when i am using a regular user account. Yes, know i can also login as root to get the admin things done, but isnt it a bad idea to login as root in Linux??

thanks

hkl8324

How about SUing in a terminal window and then loading either Konquerer or Nautilus (whichever you usually use)?

If you are using KDE it also has a file manager that loads in SU mode. On my system it is in the "K" Menu and then under "system" and "More programs" there is one called "File Manger - Super User Mode" I am not sure if Gnome has the same thing or not. The previous post by hkl8324 also works well and will work in KDE or Gnome.

Those are good suggestions and they'll let you get the job done, but maybe what hkl8324 was wondering is whether, when you've already loaded Konqueror or something and have to do something that requires root, you can just switch to root right within that running instance of the program. The answer is you can't in any program I'm aware of. You have to start up a new instance of the program as root, then manually get to the place you were at to do the task.

If you ask me, it would be a great feature of at least a file manager and text editor if, when you try to do something that requires root, it asks for the root password rather than tells you you can't do that. It would be much more intuitive and straightforward.

I remember seeing an add-in with a "Run as root" function for the KDE context menu. Just found it at KDE-apps.org .