welp, I still need to add myself to the sudo group and sudoers file, and that’s something I need a root shell for. (unless I always miss some options during setup to make my user automatically a sudoer)
You did. If you leave your root password blank it’ll automatically add the user account you create in the following step to sudo and disable the root account.
If you want to have both a root account and a user account with sudo, you’ll have to do that manually, but that’s a pretty unusual setup.
Yeah, general practice is to either elevate privelige by switching accounts, or by using sudo. Having both just increases your attack surface to no practical benefit (especially since you can technically still switch to a root account with “sudo - i” even if you’re going the sudo route).
I used mostly Windows systems primarily and I guess I just adapted that habit of having an Administrator account for when shit goes down, and my own user account that has admin rights.
It’s just convenient. I liked my Administrator account as clean as possible, and I do the same in Linux with root. There is its time and place where I need root.
But you are right, I should change my habits. I’m not even sure how sudo and rights and environments and sessions and god knows what works exactly behind the scenes, so probably, maybe, there are technical differences too in the way I use these and the way how I should… I don’t know.
To install the current version of Windows on my PC, I need to enter command prompt from within the installer and type 2 commands to disable ethernet and the online install requirement.
Otherwise it won’t let me install it without a Microsoft account.
Almost all major desktop Linux distros let you install them with “Click Next until Done” now.
When my mom needed a new PC, she asked me, the family’s computer guy. I asked her what she does on her PC, bought one, installed Debian with Cinnamon, activated automatic security updates without notifications, set up her printer and an ssh/vnc server for remote assistance. I haven’t heard of any issues in 2 years.
For starters, you don’t need to enter a single command to get a fully functioning system.
Have you tried installing literally any debian based system recently? Works without a single command.
Many other Arch based too, even if it against Arch’s philosophy. Just click “yes” and “next” a bunch of times and you are ready.
I think the purists need to accept that users are valid too. :) good that some distros seem to understand that.
Yeah but last time I checked I couldn’t play videos without enabling non-free repos
is that not just a checkbox when you install though?
It is a checkbox in ubuntu. I don’t remember it being there for debian although I used it a few years ago so it might be a new change
editing files in a root desktop session with a GUI editor does count as cheating in this case?
Yeah no. Thats not the case for everyone. Debian itself also is a little more tricky than say pop!os.
welp, I still need to add myself to the sudo group and sudoers file, and that’s something I need a root shell for. (unless I always miss some options during setup to make my user automatically a sudoer)
You did. If you leave your root password blank it’ll automatically add the user account you create in the following step to sudo and disable the root account.
If you want to have both a root account and a user account with sudo, you’ll have to do that manually, but that’s a pretty unusual setup.
oh wow, I did not know this
Nor this, but you are right if I think about it.
Yeah, general practice is to either elevate privelige by switching accounts, or by using sudo. Having both just increases your attack surface to no practical benefit (especially since you can technically still switch to a root account with “sudo - i” even if you’re going the sudo route).
I used mostly Windows systems primarily and I guess I just adapted that habit of having an Administrator account for when shit goes down, and my own user account that has admin rights.
It’s just convenient. I liked my Administrator account as clean as possible, and I do the same in Linux with root. There is its time and place where I need root.
But you are right, I should change my habits. I’m not even sure how sudo and rights and environments and sessions and god knows what works exactly behind the scenes, so probably, maybe, there are technical differences too in the way I use these and the way how I should… I don’t know.
Anyway, thanks for the info.
Fair enough. Although technically the system works without that. Just not for long maybe?
I mean it’s Debian, it’s stable, it should work without ever updating your system :P
(though one could always log in as root in a separate session, too…)
To install the current version of Windows on my PC, I need to enter command prompt from within the installer and type 2 commands to disable ethernet and the online install requirement.
Otherwise it won’t let me install it without a Microsoft account.
Almost all major desktop Linux distros let you install them with “Click Next until Done” now.
Windows comes already I stalled on the HP laptop your mom bought. A lot of people have straight up never installed an operating system.
When my mom needed a new PC, she asked me, the family’s computer guy. I asked her what she does on her PC, bought one, installed Debian with Cinnamon, activated automatic security updates without notifications, set up her printer and an ssh/vnc server for remote assistance. I haven’t heard of any issues in 2 years.
Same for Ubuntu, no?