[Tyre MacAdmin]

I've been looking for "Netinfo manager" in Leopard so that I can set up my root user... but I can not find it.

Where do you go to do this in Leopard?

[Art Vandelay]

Directory Utility

The bigger question is why?

[Tyre MacAdmin]

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay 

Directory Utility

The bigger question is why?

I can;t find the place in Directory Utility... where is it?

The reason is curiosity...

[Art Vandelay]

The Edit menu.

That's a dangerous sounding reason.

[scoot]

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay 

That's a dangerous sounding reason.

That's what backups are for.

[wadesworld]

I think the point was, there's almost nothing that actually requires the root user to be enabled. Everything can be done with sudo. In using OS X since the first release, I've never had cause to enable the root user.

[TheoCryst]

Convenience, for one thing: if you have a ton of things to run as root, it's easier to type "su" once, rather than "sudo' each time. Still dangerous, though...

[Tyre MacAdmin]

Originally Posted by wadesworld 

I think the point was, there's almost nothing that actually requires the root user to be enabled. Everything can be done with sudo. In using OS X since the first release, I've never had cause to enable the root user.

And I'll probably never have to use it, yes... but knowing where to enable it was the key here. I'm just wondering why they moved it.

[Art Vandelay]

Because NetInfo is dead.

[Tyre MacAdmin]

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay 

Because NetInfo is dead.

Good. I hated Netinfo.

[Mithras]

Originally Posted by TheoCryst 

Convenience, for one thing: if you have a ton of things to run as root, it's easier to type "su" once, rather than "sudo' each time. Still dangerous, though...

Because nobody's invented sudo -s yet, eh?

[Chuckit]

The Help menu is your friend. I typed "root" into the search box and the answer was the second result, complete with a link to open Directory Utility. Then, if you're still having trouble finding the item in Directory Utility, you can type "root" in the Help menu there and it will take you directly to the menu item. It really kicks ass in Leopard.

[Big Mac]

Remember that guy who screamed bloody murder because we tried to tell him it was stupid to use root?

[Person Man]

Originally Posted by Big Mac 

Remember that guy who screamed bloody murder because we tried to tell him it was stupid to use root?

Yep, I sure do.

But, as the OP said himself, he'll probably never have to use it, but knowing where to go to enable it if he needs it was what he was looking for.

Besides, I enable the root user mostly just to enable the "other" option on the login screen (I haven't found where to enable that in Leopard without enabling root). I use "Other" for the ">console" option, not for root. The password I set for root is an obnoxious 35 character dealie with capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Plenty of time to think about if what I need to do REALLY requires root.

I don't think it's wrong to ask why someone wants to use root and then educate them if there are alternate ways of doing something.

[newsushi]

enabling root gives you another way in when someone changes account information, which, happens on occasion in a lab environment.

[besson3c]

Originally Posted by newsushi 

enabling root gives you another way in when someone changes account information, which, happens on occasion in a lab environment.

Huh? Why would you give anybody in a lab access to any account but their own? Also, Single User Mode is another way to make these sorts of administrative changes when you are locked out.

[Art Vandelay]

The Install CD/DVD can override any account changes too via the password reset utility.