So what the hell is Root anyway?

[hailpurdue]

How many of you have tried to answer the question, what is root anyway? For new users, are you scared to ask? Afraid that you're not going to understand?

I've noticed, with all of the people who are moving to Android, there is a growing gulf of knowledge. Most of us were skinning and rooting our WinMo phones for a decade before Android came out, so to us, it's the status quo. But how about the guy who just traded in his Moto Razor last week? He hears the word "kernel" and literally thinks about popcorn.

I decided to write a little summary, trying to go as basic as I possibly could. Hopefully, we can use this as an initiation, a starting place if you will. Feel free to critique/flame, and steal as you'd like. If you want to put it in a guide, that's cool too.

Enjoy!!

Crappy Tech Reviews: ROOT!!!!!!!!! The Guide.

 

[Bitbang3r]

Here's an analogy I remember reading ~10 years ago while desperately searching Google for a way to undelete files deleted as root:

On a Unix system, root is God.

God is perfect and incapable of making mistakes.

Therefore, if God deletes a file, he obviously intended for it to remain that way.

It wasn't terribly comforting at the time, but it does illustrate just how supreme and powerful root is on a Unix system. There are times when Windows will tell even the most supreme administrator, "No, I won't do that." Unix will, in fact, do it, and die trying if it must.

 

[hailpurdue]

For people used to developing and used to linux, its easy to explain. What you just wrote might as well have been in french for a noobie! I for one, want broad adaption of android, the more base users, the better chance open source will be around for us to play with! The more users who become familiar, the better for all of the devs, and the better us who support their projects!

 

[BadSectorGR]

I really know s...t about root..i am new to Android..but i hope your guide will help me understand.

 

[Hangdog42]

That's actually a nice explanation of root, but I'd suggest your missing one thing: You don't always want to be root. If you're always root and someone picks your pocket for that key to access the whole hotel, now THEY are also root and have access to EVERYTHING. If you're just a user and get your pocket picked, then they only have access to your room.

Root is powerful, but you need to understand the risks. One of the biggest idiocies in the Windows world is that everything is run as root, and that has desensitized generations of computer users to the risks.

 

[cds0699]

Damnit now I want some popcorn.

 

[hailpurdue]

That's actually a nice explanation of root, but I'd suggest your missing one thing: You don't always want to be root. If you're always root and someone picks your pocket for that key to access the whole hotel, now THEY are also root and have access to EVERYTHING. If you're just a user and get your pocket picked, then they only have access to your room.

Root is powerful, but you need to understand the risks. One of the biggest idiocies in the Windows world is that everything is run as root, and that has desensitized generations of computer users to the risks.

I like it, I'll mention it, do you mind if I basically steal this word for word?

 

[Hangdog42]

I like it, I'll mention it, do you mind if I basically steal this word for word?

Be my guest!