Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!ptimtc!nntp-server.caltech.edu!news From: ptok@void.caltech.edu (phillip tokumaru) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: Another ... Suggestion for NeXT, Inc. Message-ID: <1991May1.075944.11571@nntp-server.caltech.edu> Date: 1 May 91 07:59:44 GMT References: Sender: news@nntp-server.caltech.edu Reply-To: ptok@void.caltech.edu Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Lines: 33 In article bb@math.ufl.edu (Brian Bartholomew) writes: > In article <1991Apr29.082508.2376@wuphys.wustl.edu> > rdd@wuphys.wustl.edu (Rakhal D. Dave) writes: > > > What I'd like is to see an option in the user workspace menu, under > > tools maybe, called superuser. Choosing this option should cause the > > loginwindow to be displayed with root filled into the user field. On > > giving the password, without rearranging the workspace to match the > > root workspace and without halting any background processes it would > > be great to get all the root permissions to rearrange files. > > This is certainly do-able, but it strikes me as extremely messy and > very dangerous. Mostly I think you would contradict many designed-in > features of the "U*IX programming environment". What would you have a > program do that has already chosen what to do based on your userid? I think he (and I) just want to move around some files, set owners, permissions, you know, WorkspaceManager kind of stuff. A duplicate incarnation of the WorkspaceManager (with root login) would fit the bill. It could open up with a duplicate of the active user's Browser. It could even plaster warnings all over the window and put up messages like "Are you sure you want to XXXX as root? " > Would you require code to be added to every U*IX program on the box to > check occassionally to see if its uid has been changed to root? The > idea of a big Frankenstein-style "Maintenance" switch is appealing, I call this logging in as root. > but I cannot visualize how to do it cleanly. I guess that depends on what you are trying to visualize.