xchat and root
 

hello,

when im logged in as root and need to run xchat i want to run it as another user, i thought the simple solution would be this command:

su -l myusername -c "xchat"

but when i run this is get the error:

any help?

thank you,
-sean

Why not just log in as a regular user then run the program? You really shouldnt be logged in as root for everyday tasks, its a security risk.

Also, when your getting that error, is this running from a command line without X running or is X running? And is this over a remove connection or you physically at the machine?

AFAIK you can't run an X app as a different user from the one that is logged in. I think you would need to start a second X session to do that.

yeah, ideally you shouldn't be in X as root in the first place, but run "xhost +localhost" and it will work fine...

Would that not give everyone logged into the machine root access by running an application on that display?

yes. and that's what he wants.... i think xhost +username works too though