the best way to get the full paths and such as root is.
be root.
edit /etc/sudoers
and put
user ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL

then instead of sudo gainroot, just do su -
and the password is rootme.

There are some good reasons you want to keep root privs protected though. It's good sysadmin practice to just permit root access to specific needed commands.

Of course, it's going to be hard to break out of the "good sysadmin practice" and think "Hey - this isn't a server... just a tablet."

ya, and its your tablet, its not like there are 50 people loggin everyday.

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

i have been using linux for around 11 years now, and its all i run, i have 0 window machines at home and work. so i know all about the ins and outs. and im a system administrator so i know about security. and changing the root pass was the first thing i did, after getting root. and i have openssh running instead of dropbear.. anyone know of a vncserver ?

I started on Slack in '96... Have you experimented with ARMedSlack?

i have looked at it. but havent had time to fire it up .

Yet.

The day will come when the 770 or the next version will become vulnerable to some kind of port-scan attack, and you don't want your tablet running as root when it happens.

The best way to ensure that is to form good habits now.

Good habits. YES.

Running as ROOT.. 770 specific answer? When I do xterm/ whoami, I get user (when r&d mode is enabled)

When I signon as root from SSH on another machine, I am root.

When I sudo gainroot, whoami indicates root.

Here's what happens then:

"#!/bin/sh -e
trap exit SIGHUP SIGINT SIGTERM
PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin
MODE=`/usr/sbin/chroot /mnt/initfs cal-tool --get-rd-mode`
if [ x$MODE = xenabled ]
then
echo "Root shell enabled"
/bin/sh
else
echo "Enable RD mode if you want to break your device"
fi"

This looks like a check to the "flash" part of the 770 to see if we're in R & D mode.

Then "if r & D mode," we run sh

How is a port-scan attack more effective when the tablet is "running" as root?

sudo has been two things: 1. a way to limit who does what 2. a way to log who does what

I haven't seen any logs retained on my 770.

ok, so I corrupted sudoers and sudo gainroot fails. with
>>> SUDOERS file: parse error line 22 <<<
>>> SUDOERS file: parse error line 23 <<<
sudo: parse error in /etc/sudoers near line 22

gainroot is the trimmed down version w/o the check for r & d.

The lines effected are NOT the lines that allow gainroot.

sshd is intsalled.

Brick? or do I have options? Bricks not a problem. I can redo everything with much less hunt and peck. I just want to know what my options are.

-Jason