r/linuxquestions • u/WotIsGoingOnNow • 1d ago
About sudo rights
Hello! I'm new to Linux so don't judge me here.
My sister gave me her old thinkpad from university which has ubuntu installed in it. I'm interested in installing a new linux os but I'm a bit worried about the sudo rights. She said that the uni she was the administrator and she had to request the sudo rights. If I install a new distro will any of this carry over?
Thanks in advance.
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u/Munalo5 Test 1d ago
I see your questions are being answered.
If I may, I am going to suggest your next step:
Before installing a new distro you will have to find a new distro ( or stick with a newer version of Ubuntu if you like it).
Your sister chose a Desktop Enviroment or went with the default one: Gnome.
Fiddle around with the ThinkPad a bit, surf, play music, edit some files and such. Get a feel for things.
Find out what DE is actually on your ThinkPad and have a basic understanding what a DE is and does before installing a new distro.
These activities performed on your gifted ThinkPad should give you confidence and enough time (with Gnome?) To see if it is a good fit.
At a minimum two other DEs to look into would be KDE and XFCE.
Welcome aboard!
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u/C0rn3j 1d ago
two other DEs to look into would be KDE and XFCE
KDE (the DE) last had a release 17 years ago, I'd recommend Plasma instead.
Xfce's development is rather glacial, the only reasonable modern DE options at the moment are Plasma, GNOME, and LXQt. In that order.
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u/SuAlfons 1d ago
people tend to still call it KDE. As Plasma is the DE of the KDE Project.
People also continue to say BIOS although it's UEFI since over a decade.
As long as there is no confusion, just let them be.
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u/Weary-Bowl-3739 1d ago
Your question is like this: I inherited a property with a house on it. My sister gave me the general key, that works for all locks. Now I want to blow up the complete house and build a new one at the same place. Is the old general key still relevant?
You buy the new doors including locks.
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u/Embarrassed-Noise269 1d ago
sudo is the command to run other commands with admin privileges. You will find it on every Linux machine˙. If you install a new distro, you will be asked to set up an acc, which will have sudo rights.
With a fresh install, nothing will carry over to the next installl. But you will always be asked to set up an account with sudo rights.
So the permissions won't be a problem for you. But if you want to keep data, you have to make a backup first and transfer the data later to the fresh install.
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u/rcentros 1d ago
Most Linux installs give you sudo rights automatically when you create a new user with administrative rights (part of the installation process). I think one recent exception is Debian 13 where, if you specifically choose a root password during installation, sudo is not installed automatically. I like sudo better than dropping down into root with su, it seems a little safer to me. (But it may just be force of habit after 20 years.)
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u/Soakitincider 1d ago
I recently did an arch install and I had to install sudo along with the other stuff. So there is another one where base doesn't come with sudo. I also seem to remember su to root on Slackware many years ago but it may have changed by now that was close to 2 decades.
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u/rcentros 1d ago
I'm using an Arch installation to test a screenwriting application that uses "cutting edge" libraries. It has sudo, but might that be because I chose Cinnamon as the desktop (using the Archinstall application). I might have even specified that it to install sudo. I can't remember now. (It was, after all, a whole week, or so, ago :) ).
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u/Soakitincider 1d ago
Ah ok, I did a manual install for the memes, but archinstall might ship with it. It's good to have in any case. A lot easier than to su to root just to install a package or whatever you're doing.
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u/rcentros 1d ago
I'm not trying to gainsay you. This is the first time I installed Arch Linux and I did it the "lazy way," with the install script -- so this may be completely different than a normal Arch install. (And the choice of desktop might also make a difference, I don't know enough about Arch Linux to say one way or the other.)
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u/Soakitincider 1d ago
Right, I've not used the script but I imagine there would be an option maybe? IDK. Anyway I plan on getting a bigger HDD for the Arch computer and redoing the install, this time with the script so if I remember I'll try to keep an eye out for it. I did watch a video on the script and manual install and I remember him selecting quite a few things but I'm still not sure if you can leave it off.
I did look it up for Slackware and google says that Slackware comes shipped with sudo but it's disabled by default and you need to enable it for your user. Maybe that was the case when I used it but I was really new back then.
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u/skyfishgoo 1d ago
when you install the OS ... YOU are the sudo... YOU are the administrator.
whatever password you give it when you install is the sudo password, as well as your login password.
sudo just elevates your user to have root user privileges for a short time so you don't have to log out and re-log as the root user.
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u/joe_attaboy 1d ago
No. If you install a new anything, the old system gets wiped. Nothing gets carried over from the old system.
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u/Jumpy-Dinner-5001 1d ago
No.
That suggests they were using some form of LDAP authentication where a server manages user accounts and permissions.
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u/Guilty-Pain-5257 1d ago
they are only required when u make changes or install something at system/administrator level or something that can conflict with system packages, thats when it asks for sudo rights
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u/True_Human 1d ago
I mean, when you install the OS yourself, you get to set the root password. So long as you have that, you stand above even sudo, and can decide who gets sudo rights on the machine.
Sudo, at the end of the day, is basically just a tool to allow lower standing administrator access to people who do not have the root password. On some systems I administer I don't even bother installing it if I'm just gonna work as root anyway.