Root Desktop Icons Mandrake 10 KDE
 

I have recently installed Mandrake 10 and I am using KDE. When I log into KDE as root, I do not have any desktop icons however, the files exist in the /root/Desktop folder.

How can I show the files in /root/Desktop on the actual GUI desktop?

Thanks!

Right click your desktop, select configure desktop, then select show icons on desktop.

One problem with that, it appears as though the desktop is disabled. right clicking does nothing: no menues, dialog boxes, nothing.

Maybe the desktop locking is an added security feature, you should only log in as root with the gui desktop as a last resort.

well is there a way to disable this 'desktop locking' ?

and what is the big deal about logging in to the gui as root? I am always su'ing to get access to the programs I want and whatnot...

if you log in as root, everything in that session runs with root privileges and you never know what might go wrong - one big reason windows is so unsecure is that most people are running it with something like root privileges all the time. su-ing when you must is better.

If you insist on unlocking the desktop for root, try removing the .kde directory in root's home directory. It might give you a normal desktop next time you log in (it will recreate the default and if the default is a locked down one, you'll get that back).

I think its best not to run any desktop environment or window manager as root for safety and security issues. This is probably why the root account in KDE is more or less crippled. If you use your root account, any small error can cause irrepairable damage to your system and it makes it easy for intuders to gain full access to your system. Its quite easy to do system administration etc using "su", it just takes a bit of getting used to.