su-to-root(1)

💖 su-to-root — the Debian GNU/Linux manual page, bestie edition 💖

okay so. welcome to su-to-root, a lil script from the Debian GNU/Linux manual (section 1, iykyk). it's the girlypop who politely asks for the root password so your menu entries can do big-girl things. 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

su-to-root — a simple script that gives an interactive' front-end to su`. it can be dropped into menu entry commands to ask for the root password. 💅

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

su-to-root [-X] [-p <user>] -c <command>

short, sweet, iconic. three flags, one vibe. 🦋

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so like, most menu entries are just vibing — they start an editor, a game, whatever, no drama. 🍓

but some menu entries want to let the user change important system settings, and those need root privileges. that's literally the whole reason su-to-root exists: it's the one who asks for the root password. no cap. 👑

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✨ OPTIONS ✨

• -c <command> — the command to execute, as a string. bestie this one is mandatory, you cannot skip it, it's the main character of this whole operation. 🌟
• -p <user> — the name of the user to change to, instead of root. (yes you can be someone else, we love options.) 💜
• -X — the command is an X11 program that doesn't need a terminal. use this with menu entries that declare needs="X11". 🖥️✨

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🌈 ENVIRONMENT 🌈

SU_TO_ROOT_X

selects the su-like program that su-to-root -X calls. supported values are:

• gksu
• kdesu
• kde4su
• ktsuss
• sux
• sudo-askpass
• gksudo
• kdesudo

quick notes, bestie:

• kde4su means the KDE4 version of kdesu. 📝
• sudo-askpass requires ssh-askpass to be installed. (no ssh-askpass, no askpass, sad.)

when this variable is not set, su-to-root will currently try to use gksu, kdesu, kde4su, ktsuss, sux and the built-in code, in that order — with the exception that under a KDE session, kdesu and kde4su are preferred over gksu. 👑

⚠️ the exact set of programs to try and their order is subject to change without notice. do not get attached. 💀

SU_TO_ROOT_SU

selects the su-like program used in text mode. supported values are sudo, sux and su — and the later one, su, is the default. 💅

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🌸 FILES 🌸

• /etc/su-to-rootrc
• ~/.su-to-rootrc

su-to-root will source these files at startup, in this order. this lets you define and modify the environment variables above without restarting your X session. obsessed. 😌✨

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💜 COPYING 💜

su-to-root is distributed under the GNU General Public License. (GPL 2.0 or greater). periodt. 📜

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👑 AUTHORS 👑

• Joost Witteveen <joostje@debian.org>
• X11 support by Morten Brix Pedersen and Bill Allombert <ballombe@debian.org>

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

• update-menus(1)
• menufile(5)
• /usr/share/doc/menu/html

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🫶 this absolute banger of a manual page comes to you from the Debian Project, dated 20 October 1998 — yes, 1998, she's vintage, she's iconic, she's still asking for your root password. slay. 💅✨🎀