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Era

Member

From: ::1

Joined: 2015-05-06

Posts: 884

sudo vs su

i like su more!

drunkbnu

Formerly HG

Joined: 2017-08-16

Posts: 2,306

Re: sudo vs su

su is a command to switch users, without changing the user environment. However, if you use it without any arguments, it'll attempt to log as root. su can be used by everyone.

sudo is a command designed to run commands as root, using your account's password instead of the root account's password (by default locked in Ubuntu). You must be a sudoer (administrator) to use sudo.

Era

Member

From: ::1

Joined: 2015-05-06

Posts: 884

Re: sudo vs su

su can be used by everyone.

Does enterely depend on your config or OS,
Default for FreeBSD would be that you have to be in the wheel group to execute su.
Ubuntu's Default is that you need to be in the sudo group to execute sudo.
However it can be tuned so anyone can use sudo if you'd like.

This thread is about which command you prefer since both binaries allow you to reach the same goal.

drunkbnu

Formerly HG

Joined: 2017-08-16

Posts: 2,306

Re: sudo vs su

You can log as root using your account's password using the combination sudo su. But I don't like to mess up with my current environment so I prefer the root environment for which I use sudo -i.

Zumza

Member

From: root

Joined: 2015-02-17

Posts: 4,645

Re: sudo vs su

I prefer sudo. It's safer in my opinion.

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Different55

Forum Admin

Joined: 2015-02-07

Posts: 16,574

Re: sudo vs su

I go with su, I don't think I even have sudo installed at the moment. Su -c makes more sense to me than sudo anyway. Force you to type root's password instead of your own password. If someone's in your computer it's more likely they know your password than root's password. But this is just my home PC, sudo wasn't installed by default so I didn't bother, and I think sudo can be configured to require the password of the target user like su does.

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"Sometimes failing a leap of faith is better than inching forward"
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Pingohits

Banned

From: aids lizard

Joined: 2015-02-15

Posts: 7,591

Re: sudo vs su

when i walk into this topic it feels like i entered a foreign country

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Zumza

Member

From: root

Joined: 2015-02-17

Posts: 4,645

Re: sudo vs su

when i walk into this topic it feels like i entered a foreign country

its like Window's run as admin but in Linux.

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Different55

Forum Admin

Joined: 2015-02-07

Posts: 16,574

Re: sudo vs su

when i walk into this topic it feels like i entered a foreign country

its like Window's run as admin but in Linux.

Now you're making it sound like linux is nothing but terminal witchcraft. If you never opened a terminal you'd never need to know about any of this, but yeah sudo and su are basically Window's Run as Admin or UAC popups for terminals. If you don't use a terminal then you get a normal popup box asking for your password like OS X does.

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"Sometimes failing a leap of faith is better than inching forward"
- ShinsukeIto

Ratburntro44

Member

Joined: 1970-01-01

Posts: 1,382

Website

Re: sudo vs su

Now you're making it sound like linux is nothing but terminal witchcraft

it isn't?

Zumza

Member

From: root

Joined: 2015-02-17

Posts: 4,645

Re: sudo vs su

Now you're making it sound like linux is nothing but terminal witchcraft

it isn't?

No. A linux user considers the GUI black magic. The terminal is the good magic.
Good magic always win whereas the black magic is unpredictable.

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Everybody edits, but some edit more than others

Tomahawk

Forum Mod

From: UK

Joined: 2015-02-18

Posts: 2,830

Re: sudo vs su

Sudoku.

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Anatoly

Guest

Re: sudo vs su

i use sudo bash