Root (computing)

In the field of computing, root is a term with several possible meanings.

Root as a filesystem term

For root as the base of the file system's directory structure, see Root directory.

Root as a user account name

In Unix style computer operating systems, root is the conventional name of the user who has all rights or permissions in all modes (single or multi user). root is also called the superuser. Normally this is the administrator's account. The user root can do many things an ordinary user cannot, such as changing the ownership of files and binding to low numbered ports. Generally, it is not good practice for anyone to use root as their normal user account, because simple typographic errors can cause major damage to the system. It is recommended to create a normal user account instead and then use the su command to switch when necessary. Some use the sudo utility instead, which allows a measure of graduated access.

Separation of administrative privileges from normal user privileges also makes an operating system more resistant to viruses and other malicious software, and the lack of this separation in DOS and earlier versions of Microsoft Windows has been cited as one major reason why these operating systems are more insecure.

Software defects which allow a user to "gain root" (to execute with superuser privileges code supplied by that user) are a major security issue, and the fixing of such software is a major part of maintaining a secure system. One common way of gaining root is to cause a buffer overflow in a program already running with superuser privileges.

If a person 'has root access' it means that they are able to act as the administrator of that computer.

In the BeOS operating system, the superuser is named baron, while on some other Unix variants, it's named avatar.

In Microsoft Windows NT and later systems derived from it (Windows 2000, Windows XP), the superuser is named Administrator, although the situation is not an exact analogue since the Administrator account does not have all of the privileges of the Unix root account (some functions of the Unix superuser being the domain of the Local System account in Microsoft Windows NT).

On many Unix operating systems, the name Charlie Root is associated with the root account, named after the baseball player of the same name.

In NetBSD a second, disabled, alternate root account was added by default - 'toor. Falken was also added.

Root as a data structure term

In a tree data type, the root is the node in the tree which has no parent node.

es:root sl:Superuporabnik