unable to su - to root or to any user on FC3 (solved)

[Aaron Konstam]

On Tue, 2006-07-18 at 20:58 +0100, James Wilkinson wrote:
> The subject was su-ing to another user in init 1 mode.
> 
> I wrote:
> > Out of interest, what do you think should stop su working in init level
> > 1? I mean on a "physical", which-bit-of-code-should-cause-an-error-and-
> > why level?
> 
> Jeff Vian wrote:
> > Run level one does not have the concept of other users.  It is called
> > single user mode for a very good reason.
> 
> I think you're over-estimating the importance of init. Run level one is
> fundamentally an init concept -- it's defined in /etc/inittab and the
> System V initscripts. It changes which programs get automatically run at
> boot time.
> 
> But the concept of "users", and "user ID" is a kernel one, which init
> doesn't get to play with. The kernel doesn't have a concept of run-level
> one, and neither does bash. (After all, you don't need to use a
> traditional init at all -- in an emergency, bash will do perfectly
> well).
Well all this interested me enough that I booted to run level 1 on my
FC5 machines. And indeed su works. I could do su - akonstam and be me.

But why the blazes would anyone want to run: su -
when they are already root in init level 1?
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Aaron Konstam telephone: (210) 656-0355 e-mail: akonstam at sbcglobal.net