what you missed, you don't need root access, just start a browser as a regular user, even without password. That is possible, more or less like on android (or ios).
But in such cases you need to protect your root account. Also you can switch on automatic updates (like on smartphones).

Yes, this is absolutely the best solution for users not suitable or capable of maintaining their OS installation. With a live CD/DVD/BluRay on a read-only media in a computer without any other internal storage no one will be able to permanently tamper with any files.

Even for someone who only needs the computer to "surf the web" maintenance of the system is mandatory. Slackware 15.0 was released Feb 2 2022, less than two years ago. Since then there have been no less than 31 security updates for Mozilla Firefox in Slackware 15.0 at the time of this writing, the last update only a few days ago:

It does require some responsibility to let someone out on the internet. The responsibility is not only about protecting them and their data, but also about protecting the rest of internet from them. Most serious Internet Service Providers will take some responsibility and block users which maliciously or unknowingly is spreading spam or malware.

However, if you are willing and capable to do at least weekly maintenance and support of their system the auto-login feature of SDDM or other login managers might be useful.

regards Henrik

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Ok. So, I uninstalled sudo. Now the user does not have root access.

False propaganda! Apple even colludes with government/police to abuse/monitor users, such as when there were protests in a certain area/country, Apple turned off people's cameras, and does other things to harm people's security! This is why why Free/Libre/Opensource Software (FLS, OSS, FOSS, FLOSS) is superior to harmful proprietary software, which also tends to inconsistently change interfaces with no way to get old features back.

Are you running Slackware? By default the sudo settings in Slackware does not allow any normal user root access.

regards Henrik

1 members found this post helpful.

How do you know your executable is acutally built from Opensource code? And not have something like a backdoor added in.

That is a different question, in general you need to know the source of that executable (not the source code, but where it was downloaded from). The content of official package repositories are documented, so you can check them.

I think it's best to proceed on the basis that disabling the login or enabling sudo for root on a machine others have access to will never be safe. The experience of raising youngsters will teach you that!Offer any motivation and they'll figure it out fast.

The default (internal one used if no other /etc/inittab exists) in busybox
https://elixir.bootlin.com/busybox/l...amples/inittab just uses askfirst and straight to /bin/sh that might be another alternative to using getty

Unlike others who suggest "don't do that" IMO if you just use the laptop/whatever for general browsing (no banking etc.) then I don't see any harm in treating it as a 'open' device (no password). If its stolen then unless there's a strong password and encryption the thief could see whatever was on the device anyway.

I more often run as root on a passwordless bootup. As am I happy to telnet into BBS's that any in-middle 'attacker' could see/modify. Doesn't tend to happen, more of just a bother rather than a critical issue if it did.

Any dark hat of any esteem is hardly likely to spend the time/effort targeting a individual, are more inclined to go after bigger fish (servers).

But yes, when it comes to banking or other sensitive data then you should have a separate system/method for that. I boot a pristine freshly pre-configured setup for that, where no changes are saved and its just used to go direct to my banks web site, nowhere else before or after.

Much of security is the identification and fixing of security issues that 'COULD' happen, and directing towards everything (all data) being secure, even stuff you or nobody else cares about. Whilst in the background there's google whose recording everything about you, totally in the open - and many simply don't care about that. Consider for instance that you're about to go to some-site.com and you enter that into your browser that requests the IP associated with that from a 8.8.8.8 dns server i.e. google controlled. So google knows where you're headed and can pull in the unencrypted front page of that web site. They may even get to see your encrypted data flow of that - which yields what type/method of encryption might have yielded that encrypted data sequence from that unencrypted sequence. Alongside a million other tricks/measures that they make.

Yes, I am Slackware. I enabled sudo per Youtube.

My intention was not and is not to make propaganda in favor of Apple.I just explained how the iPad works and why it can work like that.I say clearly that Root is Apple and not the user.

Merry Christmas