root konsole (kde) - Cannot run applications - alt.os.linux.debian

Message from discussion root konsole (kde) - Cannot run applications

Sumo Wrestler (or just ate too much)

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More options Mar 24 2006, 2:57 am

Newsgroups: alt.os.linux.debian

From: "Sumo Wrestler (or just ate too much)" <sumo.wrest...@microsoft.invalid>

Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2006 07:57:40 GMT

Local: Fri, Mar 24 2006 2:57 am

Subject: Re: root konsole (kde) - Cannot run applications

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On Thu, 23 Mar 2006 19:16:48 +0000, Paulo da Silva wrote:
> I can not run X applications from a root konsole (kde).

> 1. DISPLAY env var is not defined.
> 2. No authorization.

> I could turn around this by:
> 1. Defining DISPLAY=:0 (for :0 vt)
> 2. xauth merge /home/<normal_user>/.Xauthority

> Is there a better way?
> I could put "xauth merge /home/<normal_user>/.Xauthority" in .bashrc. But
> what about DISPLAY?

> Thanks for any help

You should run X applications as root as little as possible, and the extra
work required to get X apps to run as root is a good discouragement of the
practice.

You could set the DISPLAY variable in .bashrc as well as do the xauth
merge, but I would put those command into a separate script.

Typically, I don't bother with the xauth stuff; instead I do this:

useraccount$ xhost +local:
root# export DISPLAY=:0.0

The command "xhost +local:" allows any programs on your machine to contact
the X server.

I haven't created a script to do this. I just type the commands into the
terminal window because it isn't often that I run X apps as root.

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