Quote:
Originally Posted by unixjingleman
Most of the arguments against having a regular user are related to not having regular users for servers.
|
I disagree with the argument.
Special-purposed systems aside, systems still need to be administered, & doing so in a responsible strategic manner may save one from making a mistake catastropic which otherwise might have been contained or perhaps prevented by working from a user account.
Working from a user account is considered a best practice. It forces one to better understand interconnections, & how to work within restrictions. Administrating from the root account provides less barriers, & people become sloppy because confinements aren't there. Working as root doesn't push one to learn & understand Unix as much as if a user account is consistently used.
Mistakes happen. The goal of proficient & effective administration is to have practices in place which minimize unwanted results which frequently are downtime & data loss. Running as root provides no protection, so the math appears pretty clear --
especially for special purposed systems such as firewalls which aren't performing their role if they are down or out-of-date.
Become friends with
sudo(8). Learn what is needed to keep systems current. Chicks are attracted to those that use
sudo(8) to keep their systems current.
