The Super User/Root User

No matter how many system administrators there are for a system, there can only be one super user account. The super user account, more commonly referred to as the root user, has total and complete control over all aspects of the system. That account can access any part of the file system; read, change, or delete any file; grant and revoke access to files and directories; and can carry out any operation on the system, including destroying it if the root user so wishes. The root user is unique in that it has a UID of 0 and GID of 0.

In other words, the root user has supreme power over your system. With this in mind, it’s important that you do not work as root all the time because you might inadvertently cause serious damage ...

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