Ubuntu: root password not set???

Glaanieboy

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I yesterday installed a laptop with Ubuntu Linux and I noticed it never asked for a root password. I only created an user with a password and that's it. When I try to login as root, no matter what I try, I can't login. Is there a default password set by Ubuntu install? Is there some sort of bootdisk that allows me to reset the root password, like there is for Windows NT?
 
It's disabled by default, to enable it pop open a console and "sudo passwd root" then use "sudo passwd -l root" to lock it again at any point.
 
Thanks :D But isn't this a enormous security breach? This means everyone with an useraccount on my laptop can change the root password, right? Or do they have to be a member of a specific user group? :confused:
 
Well, to me it isn't increasing security, it's annoying, I just want to login as root whenever I like and run programs and the lot. Maybe in a server environment this is nice, but not for me. I've just began to understand the world of linux and this requires me to learn the entire security model again. I don't want to do that, so for me it's back to Slackware Linux instead.
 
Why? when you can just enable the root acc' as I said...
 
After more careful reading I must admit I was wrong. I thought you could only sudo <app name> to run an app, but now I see you can enable root access so I can login as usual, like you said SPeedY_B ;) :blush:
 
What the heck? I was trying to compile Samba3, and it didn't find a (g)cc compiler. Turns out there is none installed! What a stupid distro.
 
This distro sucks donkey ass! According to the package manager gcc is installed, but it's installed someplace I don't know where it is. Now I will most definately move over to Slackware, at least Slack got it's things straight and most stuff works out of the box.
 
actually the first user created is a sort of "Admin" and is added to the root group so only that user should be able to execute the sudo passwd root command

not that I am trying to defend it, I still dont really class Linux as being an operating system
 
Gcc has to be installed. And samba is in their package management tools. You are not supposed to compile from scratch.
 
We were just talking about it on IRC...
16:09 <@[ninja]> Linux isnt an os
16:10 <@SPeedY_B> well it's not a birthday cake..
16:10 <@SPeedY_B> unless you're meaning that it's a kernel
16:11 <@[ninja]> no, I just dont consider Linux to be in anyway an operating system
16:12 <@[ninja]> its an educational toy that can be used to demonstrate how an operating system could be built, but its not a proper operating system in its own right
16:14 <@SPeedY_B> wouldn't say it's a toy
16:14 <@SPeedY_B> but it definitely needs more focus
16:14 <@SPeedY_B> as it is rather "all over the place" at the moment on the whole.
16:14 <@[ninja]> its not ready for any kind of production use, and its far too divided
16:15 <@SPeedY_B> that's what guys like fedora and ubuntu are trying to fix though.
16:15 <@SPeedY_B> bit too late i reckon, will take a long time to turn around what's already been done
16:15 <@[ninja]> yeah, in time it might become an operating system, but I dont yet think it is
16:16 <@[ninja]> and I dont think any of the current window managers are ready for any kind of mainstream desktop usage
16:16 <@SPeedY_B> which is why fedora etc use a bastardisation of kde/gnome/whateverelsetheybakeintoit
16:17 <@[ninja]> kde and gnome, neither are ready
16:17 <@[ninja]> bluecurve is worse
16:17 <@SPeedY_B> kde's functional, gnome is pretty.
16:17 <@SPeedY_B> they need to combine
16:18 <@[ninja]> I wouldnt say KDE has the kinds of functionality that people expect from a mature GUI system like windows or quartz

I'm sure more could of been said, but it wasn't an in-depth discussion :p
 
X-Istence said:
Gcc has to be installed. And samba is in their package management tools. You are not supposed to compile from scratch.
But why can't I execute gcc and [s|n]mbd?
 
Even more significantly, if root were enabled during install, the user would be required to forever remember the password they chose--even though they would rarely use it. Root passwords are often forgotten by users who are new to the Unix security model. (Matt Zimmerman)

For simple users like me :)
 
Glaanieboy said:
But why can't I execute gcc and [s|n]mbd?


Because you need to open up their package manager, select what you want, hit install, and let apt-get do it's job.

Then you can execute snmbd and nmbd and gcc if you wish. I know it is a pain, but this Linux distro is for the standard user who wnats to surf the web, and check his mail, and edit a few documents.

So for us more technical people, it is not a distro of choice. It is a mandrake like system, but stripped down for ease of use even more. Contains just what standard people need, nothing more nothing less.
 
Hmm. So basically I would have to create a new user which I would use to login to Linux. The user I created suring install is a Power User of some sort with rights to sudo to root. Am I correct?

edit: This was in reply to zeke_mo
@the rest: I'll continue to play with it, I am too curious to pull it off again.
 

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