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Sepideh Abadpour
Asked: 2019-05-22 03:15:30 +0800 CST

How to prevent a program from being uninstalled by a user with root permissions?

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In order to solve my need to a website blocker software on Ubuntu to fight self-temptation, I've decided to take a compound approach:

  • Install a website blocker app
  • Put password on that app to access the setting or to uninstall

Is there a way to do so?
I have the root access and I'm the only user of the software. Can I prevent my self from uninstalling an app with a password?

uninstall permissions root productivity 18.04

2 Answers

  1. No. Root can not be restricted on a running system. You have to show at least that bit of self-control yourself.

    Otherwise you have to create a new admin user, give its password to a friend and remove admin rights (sudo group membership) from your own user.

    Wait, could you still bypass this and boot into a root shell in rescue mode? Yes. But if even that is not enough to stop your temptation for whatever, you should probably physically remove all computing devices from your reach.

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  2. Put the app on a CD-ROM mounted on your system!

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