[quote]Originally posted by Barto:
<strong>May I ask, whats the difference between login-window root and terminal/console root?</strong><hr></blockquote>The problem has nothing to do with hackers. If you enable the root account, regardless of whether you use it in the Terminal or loginwindow, a hacker doesn't need to be sitting in front of the computer to screw with it. He or she can do it remotely.
That's not the point here, though.
If you use the root account in the Finder, you may accidentally change the permissions on some files or folders that will later cause you problems when you return to your normal user. An excellent example of this is the .DS_Store file stored in every single folder. Some people think it is a Finder "bug" when folders can't remember the view settings. They're wrong. Rather, those folders are remembering the view set by the root user, which the normal user cannot override.
It's little problems like that that most users will run into when using root. There are other much more major problems that can crop up if permissions aren't properly kept.
You *never* need to enable root on Mac OS X. Everything you need to do can be achieved through the Terminal command sudo. If you want a full root prompt in the Terminal, you don't need to "su" to root; just use "sudo -s".
[ 07-15-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</p>
