HOW AM I NOT THE ROOT OF MY PC?

So, as the title says, i'm very disappointed to hear that i don't have full controll over my OWN computer that nobody else besides me uses.
Yeah, there is the terminal and the "sudo/su" commands but it's still stupid to use extra steps to do something that you would normally do if you had complete control over your OWN damn computer, which is not the case.
Why can't i just modify what i need in the root directory directly without the need of the terminal, as a OS that market's itself as "very familiar to windows"(or something like that) it doesn't seem like it, it somehow feels like i have less control over my PC when using Zorin than using Windows 10, and this (in my opinion) says something.
I'm very disappointed as a new user of Zorin OS 15 Ultimate.

Hi,

One of the reasons why you are not commander of Zorin (or any other version of Linux for that matter) is to ensure:

a. Security.
b. Preventing a borked system because you did something wrong.

Feel free to return to Windows - at least in Linux you know what is happening under the hood! Vulnerability fixes on Linux are faster than they are for Windows but at the end of the day that is your choice.

Parhelia wrote:So, as the title says, i'm very disappointed to hear that i don't have full controll over my OWN computer that nobody else besides me uses.
Yeah, there is the terminal and the "sudo/su" commands but it's still stupid to use extra steps to do something that you would normally do if you had complete control over your OWN damn computer, which is not the case.
Why can't i just modify what i need in the root directory directly without the need of the terminal, as a OS that market's itself as "very familiar to windows"(or something like that) it doesn't seem like it, it somehow feels like i have less control over my PC when using Zorin than using Windows 10, and this (in my opinion) says something.
I'm very disappointed as a new user of Zorin OS 15 Ultimate.

I migrated to Linux OS using Zorin from Windows and at first, I felt that way, too.
But a few things quickly became apparent.
1.) I had access to every single thing on Linux OS, even if I enter a password. On Windows, much is hidden and when I say hidden, I Do Mean HIDDEN. You cannot unhide many things on Windows.
2.) Linux O.S. allows full control, even with the added security of a root password. It's just one password, after-all. But on Windows, even if I can unhide something AND have access to it, I can often do little to adjust or change.
A lot of it comes down to learning the system. At first, before a lot of learning happens, it feels similar because it is supposed to and because it IS an Operating System.

You can set it up for passwordless login. And you also point out that by opening a terminal in root, you can bypass having to continuously use your password.
In terminal enter

Code:

sudo -i

enter your password one time and your terminal instance now is in Root and you can enter commands all you like without entering your password again.

Aravisian wrote:

Parhelia wrote:So, as the title says, i'm very disappointed to hear that i don't have full controll over my OWN computer that nobody else besides me uses.
Yeah, there is the terminal and the "sudo/su" commands but it's still stupid to use extra steps to do something that you would normally do if you had complete control over your OWN damn computer, which is not the case.
Why can't i just modify what i need in the root directory directly without the need of the terminal, as a OS that market's itself as "very familiar to windows"(or something like that) it doesn't seem like it, it somehow feels like i have less control over my PC when using Zorin than using Windows 10, and this (in my opinion) says something.
I'm very disappointed as a new user of Zorin OS 15 Ultimate.

I migrated to Linux OS using Zorin from Windows and at first, I felt that way, too.
But a few things quickly became apparent.
1.) I had access to every single thing on Linux OS, even if I enter a password. On Windows, much is hidden and when I say hidden, I Do Mean HIDDEN. You cannot unhide many things on Windows.
2.) Linux O.S. allows full control, even with the added security of a root password. It's just one password, after-all. But on Windows, even if I can unhide something AND have access to it, I can often do little to adjust or change.
A lot of it comes down to learning the system. At first, before a lot of learning happens, it feels similar because it is supposed to and because it IS an Operating System.

You can set it up for passwordless login. And you also point out that by opening a terminal in root, you can bypass having to continuously use your password.
In terminal enter

Code:

sudo -i

enter your password one time and your terminal instance now is in Root and you can enter commands all you like without entering your password again.

i never recommend passwordless login for root issues and to remove protection of root could lay your system open for troubles down the line. "I have spoken."

Swarfendor437 wrote:i never recommend passwordless login for root issues and to remove protection of root could lay your system open for troubles down the line. "I have spoken."

Agreed. This is because a threat can come from outside of home and control.
However, the OP specified this as a frustration and we would be remiss to not offer all options, risks included.

Use 2nd answer posted here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/156998/ ... us-as-root
No terminal involved.

carmar wrote:Use 2nd answer posted here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/156998/ ... us-as-root
No terminal involved.

Yes, still haven't got my head round pkexec fully. I will say that KDE Plasma does offer a better way of installing any font without the need of doing sudo chown - just password to use 'Font Management'.