Given all the hubbub, I've been as torn as anyone when it comes to what to do. But what are people actually looking for when it comes to root? Do you want to install new and exciting things not specifically intended for our phones? Do you want prestige with your buddies for having a rooted phone? Do you just want to remove things you deem unnecessary? Are you just an old-school hacker wanting to find ways to make things work that "officially" shouldn't?
Root for me is simply being the one in charge of something that I *should* be able to control, if I'm capable. I've been running open source *nix systems at home for quite some time now, and frankly, I'm still intimidated by the idea of having root on my phone. I've never had to deal with a radio transmitter as root before. I've never been faced with bricking a device for my use of open source software as root. But the allure is part of why I'm here, as I'd like to learn and I'd like to eventually, perhaps, contribute. I really don't grok the mentality of some subsection of those who seem to want to root first and ask questions later. If you've ever had root on an important system (and I have -- but I wouldn't have had root there without my own prior experience), you should know what you're getting into when you're fooling with these things.
Is it really just the enticement of something new or what?
Root for me is simply being the one in charge of something that I *should* be able to control, if I'm capable. I've been running open source *nix systems at home for quite some time now, and frankly, I'm still intimidated by the idea of having root on my phone. I've never had to deal with a radio transmitter as root before. I've never been faced with bricking a device for my use of open source software as root. But the allure is part of why I'm here, as I'd like to learn and I'd like to eventually, perhaps, contribute. I really don't grok the mentality of some subsection of those who seem to want to root first and ask questions later. If you've ever had root on an important system (and I have -- but I wouldn't have had root there without my own prior experience), you should know what you're getting into when you're fooling with these things.
Is it really just the enticement of something new or what?