The Superuser
One administrator. Borrow its powers, one command at a time.
Some commands are too powerful for everyday use: installing programs, opening ports, touching other users’ files. Linux keeps exactly one administrator account for those, named root and called the superuser. Only the superuser may run such commands — and when you need one, you borrow its powers for a single command with sudo.
You need your Fedora laptop and your login password. Both commands here only ask questions; nothing is changed.
I
One administrator named root
Every Linux has exactly one system administrator, and its name is root. Because the administrator outranks every ordinary user, it is called the superuser.
Only the superuser can issue important commands. That is on purpose: it means an ordinary user cannot break the system by accident.
Prove you are an ordinary user. In Konsole, run:
whoamiIt prints your own username, not root. You are never the superuser by accident — borrowing its powers always takes a deliberate act, which is the next section.
II
Borrowing it with sudo
To run one command as the administrator, put sudo in front of it. That tells Linux: run this command as the superuser.sudo reads as “superuser, do.”
Try it on the same question as before:
sudo whoamiThe first time, it asks for your password. Type it and press Enter — nothing appears while you type, which is normal. Then it prints root.
Read those two answers side by side: whoami says you, sudo whoami says root. Same question, asked with borrowed powers. The borrowing lasted exactly that one command; the next command without sudo is plain you again.
You are done when sudo whoami prints root.
III
Who may ask, and the password
Not just anyone can ask the superuser for favors. Only a particular group of trusted users may run commands with sudo — and your account is already in that group.
So when it asks for your sudo password, there is no separate administrator password to know. It wants your login password. Since you are in the trusted group, it only needs to confirm you are really Jesse and not someone who sat down at your keyboard.
One rule, because sudo can change anything on the laptop: only use it when a guide you trust says so. Never paste a sudo command from a stranger, a random comment, or a site you do not recognize.
Review what this taught. Linux has one administrator, root, the superuser, and only it can issue important commands. sudo — “superuser, do” — runs a single command with its powers, then hands them straight back. Your account is in the trusted group, so the password it asks for is your own, proving you are really you.