How CAN I add a user to Knoppix V6.2 DVD KDE boot

[GCMartin]

@Capricorny

Thanks for your reminder of the danger. I agree with you. And, over the past months I have seen some of the wonderful assistance you have given many others. BUT...

I am looking for a LiveCD/LiveDVD based system for a specific need that I have for my local net of 4 computers. My need is to "NOT be controlled" or "barred" from using the management tools; instead, I need a system where I can execute those tools to administer the local machine. I want to be able to things as simple as using the printer management utility to print to the local LAN printer, etc.

You or no-one had come forward and share how to do this using my V6.2 of Knoppix. I have gratefully THANKED Chip for his help. He was/is like a blessing from heaven to have taken the time to guide me. AND, I learned a little more about Linux (which I am taking the time to learn as much as I can.).

I dont have your level of experience or knowledge, yet, but I am learning more how to use the GUI tools in the Knoppix desktop for my needs. I want to be like you with your level of knowledge, but coming from a Windoze environment, I've got a long way to go, yet.

If you DO HAPPEN TO KNOW OF ANOTHER METHOD OR PROCEDURE THAT I CAN EMPLOY TO RUN ALL OF THE MANAGEMENT UTILITIES ON THE LIVEDVD/CD, PLEASE SHARE IT WITH ME......PLEASE.

[dahveed3]

http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=40158

I was pleased to see that setting up the link as described in that how-to allowed me to use kdesu in Knoppix as it had in Debian's kde4.

Then when you want to open a GUI program as root you simply do kdesu kate /etc/apt/sources.lst, as an example.

There is also a program in the System section of KMenu that allows you to set a root password via a Knoppix GUI script. You'll need to do that in order to give kdesu the root password when it pops up asking for it before opening the program you started with it. Either use that handy script or do the old sudo passwd root, which will accomplish the same thing.

Knoppix user and root are locked in Knoppix. But many GUI programs are setup in a customized way to offer administrative access where they aren't in standard KDE. You just need a few programs and tasks that aren't setup that way, and so need to setup a root password and use kdesu for GUI programs and either su - (once you've set the root password) or sudo for the command line programs.

[Capricorny]

I am looking for a LiveCD/LiveDVD based system for a specific need that I have for my local net of 4 computers. My need is to "NOT be controlled" or "barred" from using the management tools; instead, I need a system where I can execute those tools to administer the local machine. I want to be able to things as simple as using the printer management utility to print to the local LAN printer, etc.
.....
If you DO HAPPEN TO KNOW OF ANOTHER METHOD OR PROCEDURE THAT I CAN EMPLOY TO RUN ALL OF THE MANAGEMENT UTILITIES ON THE LIVEDVD/CD, PLEASE SHARE IT WITH ME......PLEASE.
.....

Same method as given before. Execute something as root: sudo <command>

Or open a terminal window, and permanently become root there (which I often do, but I only use that terminal window for administration). Click on the LXTerminal icon on the status line, issue su. The you can open new windows (like editors) as root. But beware of the powers you have got then.

I have never had problems printing to LAN printers in my Knoppix setup. It proved far worse from Windows in one case! But you just pass sweeping generalizations instead of explaining more precisely what you do and what goes wrong, so it's impossible to guess what may be the problem. But you clearly have little understanding of the sudo mechanism and privileges, and I think you could start there. Linux/Unix is not a good "cookbook" system, you need a fair amount of basic system understanding to attack all the new problems cropping up along the way.

The main reason I have answered, has got nothing to do with your case. It's to protect other newbies from believing that your "method" is something experienced users would recommend.

Setting root and user passwords, as dahweed instructs, is a very good way to attack the problems when the sudo/su mechanism doesn't cut it. And it can be necessary with KDE. That is one of the reasons I strongly recommend newbies to stick to LXDE at first, where I have not encountered any such problems so far. My experience so far with using Knoppix more as a "normal" system are rather mixed, so I personally stick to the "best password is no password" principle for now. But that may change, maybe 6.2.1 already is there.

[dahveed3]

Actually I haven't found a reason to set the password for the knoppix user, only the root user. And that's really only for the use of the kdesu to open GUI programs with root privileges. I gave the debian forum thread how-to link so as to enable that aspect which is for some reason turned off in KDE 4. Really nonsense not to be able to simply invoke kdesu dolphin in order to do GUI file management.

And it's MUCH preferable to any form of logging in to the whole GUI as root user. That opens up a world of vulnerabilities so that the user might as well be using Windows XP or earlier. One is turning off all security and subjecting the entire system to modification by any nasty out there.

As for lxde or KDE or any DE, that's user preference. If the OP likes KDE and its GUI tools, which from reading the docs on the lxde website make me believe are much more GUI oriented than lxde, then there's no reason not to take advantage of them.

[Capricorny]

As for lxde or KDE or any DE, that's user preference. If the OP likes KDE and its GUI tools, which from reading the docs on the lxde website make me believe are much more GUI oriented than lxde, then there's no reason not to take advantage of them.

Except for the bugs and intricacies in KDE, which makes it far more difficult, not the least for newbies, to do more complex things. As your recipe is an example of. And in Knoppix 6.2.0, I wasn't able to set the correct screen resolution at all with KDE running. (Nor with Gnome, only LXDE did it right). Speaking as a KDE user since (ca) 1998, formerly very enthusiastic about it, I find that rather tragic.

Knoppix user password: I think at least xscreensaver uses it. I have disabled that one..

[dahveed3]

I just used the screensaver preferences link in the Debian section of KMenu. When it asked to activate I said no, and clicked to disable in the preferences.

I use Debian testing (Squeeze) and I guess I don't do too many complicated things as I enjoy KDE 4. I also used KDE for all my time in Linux and really didn't switch over to KDE 4 until a couple of months after it appeared in Squeeze, only checking out the progress using Live CD until that point. I kept Lenny on my main system until that point. I seem to have bypassed most of the major bugs by waiting.

The update-alternatives --config commands were useful to me in order to prevent lxde getting involved, which is the default in Knoppix. Everything I've encountered so far using KDE tools has been working fine with the exception of Powerdevil. That appears to be ignoring my setting the performance edits to not turn off my monitor. And I get a warning on login that there appears to be no user assigned to apply powerdevils preferences. But I have no trouble simply moving the mouse to turn my monitor back on without a password prompt.

For my screen I installed the nvidia drivers the Debian way using module-assistant and the sid debian nvidia packages. I let nvidia-xconfig revamp the xorg.conf and nvidia auto-select just appeared to use what I had been using the knoppix cheat code screen=1024x768 and depth=24 while the nv driver had been automatically been used prior to my installing nvidia. Once the nvidia drivers were installed I had no need to use the cheat codes, which would do nothing to the resolution as once nvidia-xconfig made its own xorg.conf the knoppix bootup then always states that it was not modifying my customized xorg.conf. KDE just automatically uses what nvidia setup.

I suppose I could have kept the Knoppix X setup by just issuing the cheatcode xmodule=nviidia (as I had used successfully in previous Knoppix 6 setups), but that would have required that I keep using the screen and depth cheat codes. This way (nvidia-xconfig) I allow nvidia-settings to do its thing without the massive Knoppix xorg.conf inserting all those depreciated commands. Xorg really doesn't need all that stuff anymore.

After commenting out the stable repos, changing default-release to testing in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/00KNOPPIX, and adding debian-multimedia.org's squeeze main and non-free in menu.list, I've even been doing aptitude safe-upgrade daily and Knoppix is purring along with updated Squeeze packages. I only installed mplayer, libdvdcss2, acroread, and w32codecs from debian-multimedia and allowed the safe-upgrades to their other packages. Seems to get my codecs running fine. I fixed Quicktime trailers by purging the mozilla-mplayer and totem-mozilla and adding gecko-mediaplayer-plugin.

All that and I still have 1.9 GB free in my FAT32 limited 3888 MB sized knoppix-data file on the 8GB USB stick. Since I'm using the DVD, it already has just about any program I use installed so I think things will go fine.

[GCMartin]

@dahveed3

Thanks for your insights. It is "Food for thought", much of which I hope to follow to get a similar configuration. I applaud your effort and your sharing your achievement.

It give me ideas that I can use as my system is about to recieve a Nvidia card.

My ability and my request for here was 2-fold:
1. I wanted to have the ability to adjust my system as simply as possible and thus my approaching the forum for suggestions was to possition me to do that without restrictions and
2.I really need to expand my knowledge of administering a platform that I feel is inherently safe....e.g. LiveCD/LiveDVD.

I had use Puppy and did NOT have the restrictions of navigation that I was running into in Knoppix. This post has helped me tremendously as I am learning rapidly thats to my removing the restrictions I was having before.

Thanks again for you insights. You are helpful.