NOT running as ROOT is religion. True disciples of the faith automatically sense a ROOT console and are compelled to vi /etc/inittab, making the default runlevel 6 to cause the unbeliever's system to reboot in perpetuity...

On a more serious note, I haven't seen anybody suggesting changing the ROOT password.

I can suggest a couple of simple alternatives to opening the 770 like a ... (well you may get the idea.)

1. create an alternative to gainroot that doesn't check R & D mode.
2. add the alternative to sudoers.

or

3. install dropbear-server and make it run at startup and use ssh (or puTTY from windows) to do "programming things." If you're hanging in windows, I highly recommend enabling scp (after installing the three dropbear packages...
ln -sf /var/lib/install/usr/bin/scp /usr/bin/scp)
and use WinSCP as a console to the 770.

$.02