LINUX : How to Log in as Root (Ubuntu 10.04)

Question

I want to use the whole operating system as an administrator.

I know I can log in as a root in the Terminal by typing this:

su
Password

But in this way I'm logged in only in the terminal.

I want to be able to delete/edit/open any files from anywhere on my computer.

EDIT:

I have a server in /Files Systems/opt/ and my PHP files says that I need to give permission to make it work that's why I need permission for everything.

Solution 1

I want to be able to delete/edit/open any files from anywhere on my computer.

Elevate using gksu from the terminal

gksu nautilus will start nautilus, the file manager as root.

And as hotei mentioned - be careful

Solution 2

Once you've logged in as root you can (usually) run other programs - such as gedit to edit files or nautilus (file manager). It isn't (usually) wise to do this unless you need root permissions to do something but it's your system.

Solution 3

If you really want to be root on an Ubuntu box, you've got to enable the root account by assigning it a password. A simple

sudo passwd root

will do the trick. You'll have to enter your password first (to get past the sudo hurdle), then set a password for the root account. All that said, don't do this! The only remotely legit reason I can think of for this is so you can set up password-less ssh logins between boxes as root, and that's not a good enough reason, in my opinion.

Comments

[hotei]

The php message did NOT say you needed to give it root permissions. It says it needs to exist and be readable. That's a whole different thing with multiple possible solutions that don't involve root at all.

[Adam Halasz]

Thanks @hotei for your answer, you are true with nautilus but the problem is that I'm not the one who needs to open/edit/delete the files, I have a server on it and my PHP files says that I need to give permission to make it work.

[hotei]

You may need root perms to install php, but it's not required afterwards. Your php files will be executed by the web server which is usually running as a daemon (started when the system is booted). My web files (*.php) are not owned by root but rather by me, so I don't need root permission to change them. Maybe I'm not understanding your problem...

[Adam Halasz]

check out my question here stackoverflow.com/questions/3739754/…

[hotei]

@CIRK: FYI - I commented on your question on stackoverflow.