ubuntu - Without passwords

FatRakoon

FatRakoon

FatRakoon

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Among the things I liked with Mandrake Linux in the past, is that I dont need to be constantly bombarded with it asking for a password all the time.

I havein my quest for a happy distro, found that ubuntu and its family have been supplying me with the goods, but with one major drawback and that is that the ammount of times it asks for password is no longer funny.

Its bad enough having this sudo thrust on me ( what was wrong with SU? ), but thats a silly issue, even if it does not feel very linux-y.

The thing is, that the number of times I get asked for my password has now got to me and I am no longer enjoying linux.

So, how can I stop it?
 
Code: 
sudo visudo
then change the user or groups setting to
Code: 
<name of user or group> ALL=(root) ALL
Though typical sudo installations allow this for the group "wheel" already, so just add yourself to the wheel group:
Code: 
sudo gpasswd -a <username> wheel
 
I have had a look at the sudoers and also visudo before.

I never was able to actualyl save my changes?

Not a VI / VIM fan at all... was it ctrl-w ctrl-q or whatever?
Never did get any real success
 
Oh, yes... I kind of remember from back in the Mandrake 6 days.

didnt know about ZZ however, but yes, :w and :q I do remember

Many thanks I will give it a shot right now...
 
sudo > su for any number of reasons, if nothing else than for the fact that every single command that is run using sudo is logged with timestamps. Commands run under su aren't, apart from in bash_history at best.
Sudo also allows you to restrict down very nicely exactly what each user or group is allowed to run as root too, giving you the ability to grant people specific root abilities without giving them all, e.g. you could grant someone the ability to run just passwd as root so they can change everyones passwords, but that's it.

What on earth are you fiddling with in Ubuntu that you keep getting sudo pop ups? Even using it as a full time OS I barely get prompted more than a couple of times a day tops for my password (excluding screen-saver locks)
 
I thought it was a good idea it was asking you for a password? without that you might as well log in as root. :p
 
Well, yes thats just it.

IF I caould have the root account named as my own name then I would.

Ubuntu does not do root though, so I cannot.

Dont get me wrong, on my desktop Linux boxes, they have been setup as normal and sure enough, they have the root and a user account, but on the LapTop that I use all *** time, I dont bloody well want it, and I find its a pain in the arse for me.

Security? Security? what a load of cats wee - There is absolutely no use for me to have any form of security on that LapTop at all.
 
Ubuntu does do root. It's a core part of any *nix system, i.e. it's impossible to not have root. You won't be able to log in as root because it'll have a "scrambled" password. Easy to get around:
Code: 
sudo passwd

HOWEVER - this is not the intention of root. Please, please do not use the root account as your main account. The "Linux way" is to use root ONLY for admin stuff. Use your own account for running apps etc. and leave root for access to hardware, services, etc. It will eventually make sense.
 
No, ok, I know that its impossible not to have a root, but in ubuntu its different to how I have seen it in other linuxes... In others you can log in as a user or as root, but ubuntu's you cannot really log in as root, but you can use roto for your commands that you want to run as roto with sudo.

Linux Mint shows this up perfectly stating that ubuntu does not work like other linuxes with *** root account and offers to have it turned off or on.

But I know I a mbeing silly with only wanting to log on as root and nothing more, I know I said it, but this is NOT what I want... Not really.

Im just fed up with constantly having to type my name all the ****** time.

I log on... I enter my name
I enter my name again cos thats the accounts password ( itrs damion by the way, all lowercase )
I then get prompted for my name for the network thingy ( I suppose its the gnome equivalent of the kdewallet? ) as soon as the wireless sees the network.

Now, its a fresh install, so, I am trying to get the thing to run right. Its an Acer Aspire 1680 and so, it has a few issues still... The touchpad and / or the ATI graphics have some issue... googling has told me that I am only one of many hundreds of people who have the very same issue but not a fully reliable fix, but...

I am trying to update the thing, but with over 380 updates needed ( In on mint right now, but I have gone vie ubuntu, kubuntu, xubuntu and OpenGEU and they have all worked intermittently and then trashed themselves right near the end of finishing getting it running right, so when I say I have downloaded about 4 to 6 gigs of updates, this is true, but for various flavours of ubuntu not just the one.
Every time I try to adjust some setting, or need to use the CLI ( Installing the ATI Catalysts for example ) I have to sudo everythign I type, it gets tedious.

Im ok with simply entering SU the once, I know where I am then, but to sudo everything it gets on my t1t5
 
Whats wrong with him using root on his lappy if thats what he wants.

or at least log on as root until he has finished doing what it is he needs to do then log back on as user?
 
Last edited:
Nothing wrong with logging in as root to get things done, but to use it as your day-to-day account will incur a degree of hassle.
 
I dont want to use root all *** time.

I dont.

I never said I did... Did I?

No, Im happy having my user account for everything, and to use root for when needed, thats absolutely fine, and its the way Im used to with linux, thats not the issue...

What my issue is with, is that with almost everythign I try to do with ubuntu based distros, is that I am being asked to enter my password... I know that when I switch my laptop on, if I did nothing, I would need to enter my name 3 times and thats just to get to the desktop.

But surely, its getting just like Vista.

Many people have knocked Vista for *** way it constantly asks for permission to do this or that, but I feel that its the same with ubuntu ( And all other ubuntus too, not just ubuntu itself - although the KDE Wallet does remember my passwords it seems. )

Seriously now, every time I use the laptop, I get asked for my password at least half a dozen times for some reason or another, and its just gettign to me.

My Sabayon setup doesnt do this, my Kubuntu Desktop setup doesnt do this much, and my Mandrake setups NEVER did this ( although to be honest, Mandrake has an option to not have a root password and I always did that, so it wouldnt have asked would it ? ) but alas I have lost my faith in Mandrake and I dont like Mandriva... Dont know why?
 
My box never asks for a password to connect to a wireless network, gnome doesn't have an equivalent of kdewallet, at least not in a default Ubuntu install.
Why do you keep fiddling with the ATI drivers? Surely once they're setup they're setup?

If you're at a command line and want to avoid typing in sudo all the time, which occasionally is handy, just do
Code: 
sudo -s

That'll give you a root shell.

Can you clarify "trashed themselves"? Only once have I had ubuntu really trash itself, as in completely unrecoverably, and that was because I was running Hardy when it was beta and they released a very dodgy update that wrecked most peoples installs. It was recoverable, cost / time benefit was minimal.

If you are installing different distributions on a regular basis, a piece of advice just in case you're not already doing it: Make your /home directory a separate partition on your hard disk. That way when you come to reinstall your system you maintain your gnome preferences and such like.
 
FatRakoon

sudo passwd root

Enter the password you want as root
confirm the password

Goto System/Administration/log in window
Under the Security tab enable "Allow local system administrator log in"
 
setup a few groups for things you use a lot and add your username that you use everyday to those groups.
 
.walls said:
Actually - you did.
Click to expand...

I did too!

Ok, I did, and I suppose that was niggling me that I was 50-50 on whether I did or not, but I would not do it under normal circumstances... I must have said it in a kind of "piddled off mood and I felt like doing it" way.

Thanks for correcting me... I want bothered was I?

Lazy git that I am. :D


JSW said:
FatRakoon

sudo passwd root

Enter the password you want as root
confirm the password

Goto System/Administration/log in window
Under the Security tab enable "Allow local system administrator log in"
Click to expand...

Ok, looks simple enough, I will have a look.

Many thanks.
 
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