root < ??? > admin.

[Nummi]

I am new to this "user" stuff in OS X. Is there a level between root user and admin? If there is, how do I change a user to that level? thanks.

[Krevinek]

These are the usual access levels on a Unix-based system:

Restricted - They have only read access on the system, for server software only...

Normal - They have read-only access on most of the system, except for their user folder...

Admin - They have read-write access on most of the system, except for the required system files

Root - This user has read-write access on the WHOLE system, including the system files

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As you can see, there isn't one. There isn't a need for one. Admin aren't supposed to get access to the system files directly, but can access the root account to do installs/etc of system software. Root should generally be avoided being directly accessible, because it has the power to wipe out the HD or vital parts of it easily. Why would you need something between Admin & Root anyways?

[Nummi]

"Why would you need something between Admin & Root anyways?"


because, I want to be as powerful as possible. (without the "wipe out the HD" part). And I wanted to work on an html BBEdit file my dad wrote, but I could not change it because I did not have privileges. What a load of crap. All I had to do is: make a copy of the file, toss the original file, and re-name the copy. I do not realy like this user stuff, the only reason I made more than one user is because my dad and I cannot agree on the way we have the prefs set up

[Krevinek]

Originally posted by Nummi
"Why would you need something between Admin & Root anyways?"


because, I want to be as powerful as possible. (without the "wipe out the HD" part). And I wanted to work on an html BBEdit file my dad wrote, but I could not change it because I did not have privileges. What a load of crap. All I had to do is: make a copy of the file, toss the original file, and re-name the copy. I do not realy like this user stuff, the only reason I made more than one user is because my dad and I cannot agree on the way we have the prefs set up

Well, these rules were set in place for the most part to prevent people from stepping on each other's toes. This system was originally designed for Universities/etc with 30+ users, with many of those logged in at the same time. As you can expect, the number of users on such a system can now number in the thousands.

To be perfectly honest, it is just another way of looking at things, rather than better/worse than before. It will take awhile for people to adapt (my use of Linux has prepared me enough) to this different system, but since there is no way to turn it off, people *will* have to adapt. Take testuser's suggestions, as those are the preferred (and setup) way to share files between users.

Oh, and BTW, the Admin is the most powerful user other than root. The only things they can't edit are things owned by root, and those owned by other users directly. As you can see, the Admin users can move the apps around, launch them, edit the packages, etc. In MacOS X, the Admin users aren't allowed to write to other users' files, but can read them. There really shouldn't be a reason to not just use the permissions to ALLOW other users to write the files (however you do this if up to you, read up a little), so there is no level between Admin and Root, and if there were, it would be a great hacking target (hmm... read access across the entire system, write access across the entire system except for the /etc directory... dangerous)