[SOLVED] run any app as administrator

byebyemrgates · 08-09-2018, 02:00 AM

Could someone please suggest a SIMPLE way to run any app as administrator in Mint?
For example, to run Disks or some other utility
Cheers!

brianL · 08-09-2018, 02:53 AM

Why? You don't need to run anything and everything as administrator\root, only things such as installing or upgrading packages, editing config files, etc. Using sudo, then entering your password, before a command seems simple enough to me.

jsbjsb001 · 08-09-2018, 04:51 AM

If you're using Ubuntu, it uses sudo by default and the "root" user account is disabled by default. Therefore as brianL says, you would just put sudo in front of the command you would like to run as "root".

eg.

Code:

sudo <name of command here>

byebyemrgates · 08-09-2018, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jsbjsb001

If you're using Ubuntu, it uses sudo by default and the "root" user account is disabled by default. Therefore as brianL says, you would just put sudo in front of the command you would like to run as "root".

eg.

Code:

sudo <name of command here>

Have mercy on me, I am aan an absolute newbie...
I guess what I mean is that I wonder if I don't understand something basic about "root" and "sudo".
Is "root" the "super user" who can do ANYTHING he likes?
In my other thread you can see the issue I unexpectedly encountered: going "gksu nemo" - and still getting message "you don't have permission to do this" (change ownership or permission"
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...07#post5889707
Cheers!

beachboy2 · 08-09-2018, 04:22 PM

byebyemrgates,

Have a read of this explanation:
https://www.beyondtrust.com/blog/uni...ts-not-enough/

snowday · 08-09-2018, 04:58 PM

Hello @byebyemrgates, allow me to simplify:

In Linux, we can change ownership with 'chown' or change permission with 'chmod'. A couple of examples:

To change the file 'foo' to be owned by byebyemrgates:

Code:

sudo chown byebyemrgates foo

To give the file 'foo' read/write permissions for its owner, and read-only permission for everyone else:

Code:

sudo chmod 644 foo

Simple enough?

However a warning that changing file ownership and permission is rarely a good idea. I work in IT, and almost every day, I see at least one problem caused by wrong permissions. I noticed in your other thread you are asking for help extracting photos from your camera. If you change the permissions/ownership on the camera's storage, it might affect the camera's ability to read those files. I suggest, rather, that you follow along with @michaelk's advice in your other thread. He is a knowledgeable user and will talk you through the problem. Don't do anything hasty!