Ubuntu user's report

[Alma J Wetzker]

What was unclear from your reply, and obviously misunderstood by the question, 
is what needs to be done to make sudo work.

sudo <command to run as root>
at the password prompt, enter your password, not root's.

The original command {sudo root} failed because 'root' is not a linux 
executable command.

<rant>
While man/info is a great reference for the commands available, it is a 
terrible resource for learning a new command.  (My opinion)  I am bothered 
when the standard response is 'Go search 900 pages of documentation and then 
you will be worthy to talk to me.'  Aren't there times when we can just get a 
short, simple answer?  I know there are times when I need to know quickly or 
just need to get something done so I can do my real project.  Changing focus 
to study some esoterica not connected to what I need to do is 
counterproductive in every sense.

I thought the purpose of the list was to help each other over some of the 
little sticking points so we can do our real work.
</rant>

     -- Alma


A. Khattri wrote:
> On Sat, 29 Jan 2005, Rick Bowers wrote:
> 
> 
>>This response does not help me. I stated I've never used sudo before, so
>>perhaps an explanation on how to use the command, or a pointer to some
>>documentation would have been more useful.
> 
> 
> Well, on Unix, generally the first stop is "man sudo" and then the next
> would be Google: http://www.google.com/search?q=sudo&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
> (the sudo home page and the sudo manual are the first and second hits
> respectively).
> 
> There's no magic here - these should be considered the most basic first
> steps in ANY research.
> 
> 
>>I realize many people who participate in these lists are far more
>>knowledgeable than others. The point of these lists is to help people, not
>>scoff at them.
> 
> 
> I did in fact answer your question.
> 
> To quote the previous emails:
> 
> 
>>>>I've never used the sudo command before (new to linux) but I assume :-(
>>>>it's the same as 'su''? When I type "sudo root" I'm prompted for root's
>>>>password.  I tried <enter> but it fails.  Does anyone know what the default
>>>>is set to?
>>>
>>>Err... you're supposed to type your own password when using sudo.
> 
> 
> I think that was clear: you don't use root's password, you use your own
> when using sudo.
> 
>