root access on desktop
 

Yet again another newbie question.

I now know how to be root on the terminal with the su command (thanks to the wonderful newbie tutorial of linux-mag.com).

Now how do I do that to gain access to perform root (administrator?) actions on the desktop?

one example: I've tried to modify the icon for a link to a folder: the system lets me chose the new image to eventually tell me "Could not save properties. You do not have sufficient access to write to /home/christel/Desktop/Win$ Docs/.directory."

This is my computer, I did the installation myself, it's not on a network (not even connected to the internet due to stupid winmodem), and there is no other configured user but me.

Help please?

Open a terminal. su as root. Now, you can change the ownership of the file/directory.
Ex: To change the ownership of the directory /home/me/Desktop/abc you have to give the command as:

chown me /home/me/Desktop/abc

you can change me with your username.

Use chown carefully, as it can screw up your system if used on system files.

Thanks; will try it carefully.
Christel

One more thing: how do I undo it if I screw it?

Take note of the current owner (e.g. 'root')

Then "chown root /home/christel/Desktop/Win$ Docs/.directory"

daniel

try this
$chmod -R +w /home/

this will add the "Write" permition to EVERYTHing inside /home %-)

you can even edit text files frome the command line using vi or vim. just type:
move with the arrow keys and press "i" to edit text and Esc to stop editing. then press "ZZ" to save and exit. You can also type ":q!" to exit without saving