su vs "su root"

tcma · 12-01-2004, 09:54 AM

What is the difference between "su" and "su root"?

ksun · 12-01-2004, 10:01 AM

none as far as I know. su by itself assumes you want to login as root. Obviously you can su joeschmoe if you want, so there is no reason su root is different since root is just another user. I am not the foremost expert though.

redgren · 12-01-2004, 11:13 AM

'su' - Change user id

'su username' is a command to change the current user id.
'su' by itself assumes root as the username
'su - username' uses the login shell of the username (in other words, without the '-' you simply change names and permissions, you don't run login scripts, you don't change the home directory, etc)

Hope that helps