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dotancohen
Asked: 2012-11-03 05:02:15 +0800 CST

Is it advisable to become root in Ubuntu to work with other users' files?

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When I moved to Ubuntu I worked hard to get out of the habit of working as root. However, is the situation below an example of one of the few times that a user should become root?

 - neptune:~$ cd ../testuser/.kde/
bash: cd: ../testuser/.kde/: Permission denied
 - neptune:~$ sudo cd ../testuser/.kde/
sudo: cd: command not found

Note that I do happen to have the password for testuser, however I feel that working as root is preferable to suing to testuser.

Thanks.

EDIT: Upon researching solutions I see that my best course of action is to just su to the user whose files I intend to start scripting on.

root

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    You may find this helpful. Consider placing shared files in common directories with appropriate permissions so that multiple users can work on them.

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