[06:47] <soundray> Hey thepars, shall we invite ardchoille?
[06:48] <thepars> ok
[06:49] <thepars> if ardchoille wont it's fine
[06:49] <nalioth> ruh roh, it's ardchoille
[06:49] <thepars> lol
[06:49] <ardchoille> :)
[06:49] <soundray> duck and take cover!
[06:50] <ardchoille> Who's explaining sudo?
[06:50] <soundray> thepars, most unixes have a root user who's allowed to do everything.
[06:50] <soundray> So does ubuntu, but the root account is locked by default.
[06:51] <thepars> ah i see
[06:51] <nalioth> just like OSX
[06:51] <soundray> With sudo, you can temporarily assume the privileges of the root user, without actually logging in as such.
[06:51] <soundray> This has major advantages for security.
[06:52] <nalioth> yes, first among them, there is no 'root' user account to start brute forcing
[06:52] <ardchoille> I have one major advantage I'd like to explain later.
[06:52] <soundray> ardchoille: why not now?
[06:52] <ardchoille> Well, nevermind, nalioth just did it
[06:52] <thepars> lol
[06:53] <ardchoille> Also, you can't brute force the user accounts if you don't know the usernames.
[06:53] <soundray> What's more, the attacker will exhaust him- or herself... are there girl crackers anyway?
[06:54] <thepars> wouldn't be surprised :P
[06:54] <nalioth> girls usually have better things to do than brute force a system
[06:54] <ardchoille> thepars: The items in your home folder are ediable by you at any time. Most of the rest of the system requires root access for editing, and in some cases for viewing. This is where sudo comes in.
[06:55] <ardchoille> "sudo appname" runs the app "appname" as if it were launched by the root user.
[06:55] <nalioth> sudo = Super User DO
[06:55] <soundray> thepars: does this clear things up so far?
[06:55] <ardchoille> In Ubuntu, it's best to launch gui apps, if root access is needed, with gksudo rather than sudo
[06:55] <thepars> yeah i'm understanding it so far
[06:56] <nalioth> ardchoille: use the factoids (that's what they're for)
[06:56] <nalioth> !gksudo
[06:56] <ubotu> If you need to run graphical applications as root, use  gksudo , as it will set up the environment more appropriately. Avoid ever using  sudo <GUI-application> 
[06:56] <thepars> i'm just really new to linux and have been having it handed to me on a plate with windows
[06:56] <nalioth> !kdesu
[06:56] <ubotu> In KDE, use  kdesu  to run graphical applications with root privileges when you have to. Do *not* use  sudo <GUI application> ; you can muck up your permissions/config files. For what to use in GNOME, see !gksudo
[06:56] <ardchoille> nalioth: Ah, good point
[06:57] <ardchoille> thepars: It is best to use sudo and not log in as root at all. Enabling the root account make the system less secure, as nalioth pointed out earlier.
[06:57] <nalioth> thepars: Ubuntu was designed to use the sudo model.  please don't enable the root account
[06:59] <soundray> thepars: try 'sudo -i', it gives you a shell with root privileges (dangerous, for example if you encounter a file called '-rf /' and attempt to remove it)
[07:00] <thepars> 2 secs i use ubuntu on my upstairs pc :P
[07:00] <soundray> thepars: when you have time, doesn't have to be now
[07:00] <thepars> o ok i'll write it all down and do it all later
[07:01] <nalioth> you'll rarely need 'sudo -i' as 'sudo commandname' works fine most all the time
[07:01] <ardchoille> If anyone can see how the RootSudo wiki page can be enhanced, I'd be glad to go in and make the changes.
[07:02] <thepars> all i'll be doing is allowing myself to unzip files into a folder
[07:03] <soundray> thepars: unzip them into your /home/steskel/ folder, then you won't need sudo
[07:03] <ardchoille> thepars: That should only require cd'ing to the folder and running "sudo tar <options> file"
[07:04] <ardchoille> thepars: soundray has a good point.. you can put gimp brushes in ~/.gimp-2.2/brushes and they should work.
[07:04] <nalioth> thepars: rule of thumb: don't use sudo at all (unless you are sure you need to)
[07:04] <nalioth> thepars: if you are doing stuff outside your home directory, DON'T.
[07:04] <nalioth> thepars: EVERY program on your system creates a hidden folder in your home directory with YOUR settings in it
[07:05] <thepars> ah i see
[07:05] <nalioth> there is no reason at all to modify system files/folders
[07:05] <thepars> sorry for being stupid
[07:05] <nalioth> ignorance is not stupidity
[07:05] <ardchoille> You're not being stupid, you're just learning.. which is what we all had to do at some point.
[07:05] <nalioth> ignorance is being erased with every second you are here
[07:05] <ardchoille> :)
[07:05] <soundray> thepars: unzipping brushes into the general gimp folder (/usr/share/gimp/2.0/brushes/) may be useful if you have lots of other users who also want to use the same brushes in gimp.
[07:06] <nalioth> stupidity is (unfortunately) mostly incurable
[07:06] <nalioth> soundray: how many users here on irc run multi user systems?
[07:06] <thepars> true true hopefully i can be as competent at linux as i am with windows soon-ish :P
[07:07] <soundray> nalioth: three or four? ;)
[07:07] <ardchoille> thepars: Well, you're in the right community for it. The Ubuntu community is one of the best I've ever seen.
[07:07] <thepars> definitely the best i've visited...i just need to get over the embarassment of asking
[07:07] <nalioth> thepars: the nice thing about *nix is that once you learn something, the knowledge is good forever (unlike microsoft, which changes 'how stuff works' with almost every revision)
[07:07] <ardchoille> Asking questions and reading material is the only way to learn
[07:08] <soundray> thepars: do come back and help us help other newbies when you're past that initial stage.
[07:08] <thepars> i definitely will
[07:08] <ardchoille> thepars: Indeed, the things yo learn can help others later.
[07:09] <thepars> hopefully my computer science degree will come in handy when i goto uni in a year :P
[07:11] <soundray> Bet it won't ;)
[07:11] <thepars> oh well i'm going to go and try it all now. I will be back another time no doubt with some other stupid query....and soundray you're probably right :P
[07:11] <soundray> Computer science is all about proving whether some problem can be solved with a computer. But on paper.
[07:12] <soundray> thepars: good luck
[07:12] <thepars> i know but if i have a better understanding than i do now i should be able to put some of it into practice...hopefully
[07:13] <thepars> well thanks anyway...great job you guys do!
[07:14] <thepars> talk to you some other time...bye! :)
[07:15] <nalioth> tag team information pushers?
[07:17] <ardchoille> hehe
[07:17] <ardchoille> I knew soundray would be able to explain it but I wanted to be here to offer any info I felt necessary
[07:18] <ardchoille> Ubuntu is the first time I ever used sudo, I had my doubts about it but Ubuntu has shown me that there are better ways to do things.
[07:22] <nalioth> i learned sudo from OSX
[07:22] <nalioth> when Ubuntu came along, i was already trained.
[07:34] <soundray> See you guys