Trisquel Noob Here
If no password is required to do administrative tasks, it means every program runs with all privileges. As a consequence, exploiting a vulnerability in any running program (a Web browser, a file sharing client, a video game, ... any program) is taking control over the system to do anything (install a Troyan that starts at init, install a keylogger and send from time to time every key the users pressed in search of passwords, encrypt a partition and ransom you for decrypting it, ... anything). Free software developers are not perfect. Our programs have bugs that can be vulnerabilities. With proprietary software, the situation is worse. Proprietary software often is malware: https://www.gnu.org/proprietary
And, of course, if servers are installed (e.g., an SSH server), then you obviously want to check with a password that the remote connection is authorized.
Here are the results of all the commands from Tahr Pup 6.0.3 CE:
root# mount
rootfs on / type rootfs (rw,size=2050788k,nr_inodes=215524)
/dev/sda2 on /initrd/mnt/dev_save type ext4 (rw,noatime,data=ordered)
tmpfs on /initrd/mnt/tmpfs type tmpfs (rw,relatime,size=170004k)
/dev/loop0 on /initrd/pup_ro2 type squashfs (ro,noatime)
tmpfs on /initrd/mnt/tmpfs4 type tmpfs (rw,relatime,size=30912k)
/dev/loop4 on /initrd/pup_z type squashfs (ro,noatime)
unionfs on / type aufs (rw,relatime,si=5ab2a8e1)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,relatime,size=5220144k)
devtmpfs on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,relatime,size=2050808k,nr_inodes=215533,mode=755)
none on /proc type proc (rw,relatime)
none on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,relatime,gid=2,mode=620,ptmxmode=000)
none on /sys type sysfs (rw,relatime)
shmfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,relatime,size=918296k)
/dev/loop1 on /initrd/pup_ro4 type squashfs (ro,noatime)
/dev/sda3 on /mnt/sda3 type ext4 (rw,relatime,data=ordered)
root# lsblk
bash: lsblk: command not found
root# lsblk --all
bash: lsblk: command not found
root# sudo blkid
/dev/sda3: UUID="357b0a3a-250d-4d31-a126-5a3abffefe95" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda2: UUID="22f63502-6860-48b5-85c8-b4d368389187" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda1: UUID="19aec0ff-a25b-439a-a190-5b7c7f4ad52d" TYPE="swap"
/dev/mmcblk0p1: UUID="aca6ef85-8310-4299-b497-3893975a4b5a" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/loop4: TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/loop1: TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/loop0: TYPE="squashfs"
root#
/dev/sda2 on /initrd/mnt/dev_save type ext4 (rw,noatime,data=ordered)
/dev/sda3 on /mnt/sda3 type ext4 (rw,relatime,data=ordered)
Those are the same two partitions as in https://trisquel.info/forum/trisquel-noob-here#comment-86592 but mounted in Puppy. /dev/sda2 is mounted on /initrd/mnt/dev_save and /dev/sda3 is mounted on /mnt/sda3.
I can see all of that, too. But it still does not explain why, when booting from the USB installation and given the commands to access the file systems on the hard drive--the commands do not give me access to the files. I'm programming incorrect commands? This cannot be done? I don't know which question to try and answer, and even if I did--I don't know how to answer it.
What do you mean by "access"? The filesystems are automounted with the "rw" (for read-write) option. Their files are at the related mount points. But, as I have been explaining you for three weeks, you cannot be their owner on two different systems unless your uid become the same on both systems.
But if you prefer unsatisfying dirty solutions, you can change the owner of the files *every time* you switch from a system to the other one. I gave you the related command three weeks ago (believing you would only use Trisquel from now on).
Right, makes sense now. To put it in plain words: I can't get what I want; that is to say, unless I go about it with a "dirty solution," as you like to put it, which is not what I want. Your post simplifies everything and I can move on to something else now. Thanks for your help in clarifying this.
I am getting closer to installing this Trisqel Mini on my hard drive and using it as my main operating system anyway, which will solve all my file problems. I have been using it on the USB drive for a while now and it is solid. I like it. And it does everything I need. I am not a big fan of LXDE, I would rather have GNOME, but GNOME is too bloody slow on my old equipment, and LXDE is going smoothly thus far. No complaints, save for it is a lot slower than I am used to. But I realize it will run quicker installed on the hard drive, as opposed to USB flash. That is something to look forward to.
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A little background might help to understand my particular situation a little better: I came to open source fresh from Windows XP and Mac two years ago. I knew nothing about it. Started with Ubuntu Saucy Salamander, which is now Trusty Tahr. I did not like Unity, but I did love the Ubuntu repository and the LTS. Ubuntu is highly polished very good stuff. Anyway, I switched to openSUSE, where I saw GNOME for the first time and fell in love. GNOME is now my second favorite desktop, next to JWM; but I got tired of running so bloody slow and started looking for solutions. That's when I found Puppy and JWM and became a minimalist distro fan. I absolutely love minimalist distros most of all, that is to say, I love the idea of them. But many of the minimalist distros are not a mature enough experience. They don't have enough to carry the workload I need them to carry. Puppy was as close as I could get, and so I have stuck with it. It really is a great little operating system and I will always use it, at least in the background. Nothing beats its speed, simplicity, and ease of use. But it does have its problems... for example, the Puppy shell is not a full BASH shell, like other open source distros, and so many of the open source tutorials can't apply to Puppy, which makes learning a real pain in the arse sometimes. I need full-boogie shell, a more mature experience to enhance my learning process. I don't get to spend a lot of time learning, so my time is valuable and I want to take something away with me every time I sit down to learn.
You know you can install another window manager or another shell and use it, right?
As for GNOME Shell, my wife uses it on a seven or eight year old laptop. I only doubled its RAM to 2 GB (1 GB now is too little given the "modern Web", what has nothing to do with the desktop environment).
Yes, I know it can be done, but have never done it. Never even investigated the matter.
Trisquel w/ Joe's Window Manager! Now, that sounds cool!
This Dell Latitude E5500 is from 2009? I think? Not sure about that. But it is running four gig physical RAM and eight gig swap. And with Puppy it is like lightning-and now with the new SLACKO64 it is like greased lightning! I am so spoiled with Puppy's speed and one-clicking everything that anything else just seems like waiting for eternity.
GNOME on this thing is like molasses in winter. It just sucks.
Sometimes I think I really ought to spring for a new laptop, but this one, though a bit thick and kinda clunky by today's standards, looks and runs like brand-new. So what for? Most of what I do with a computer is writing anyway, so even one much older than this can do all my jobs so long as I stick with open source and/or free software.
I noticed you said you have intel wifi in another thread. Have you checked whether you have this bug?
I have had both Intel and Broadcom cards in the machine while booting Trisquel/GNOME. Both are slower than slow. Neither card worked with the Trisquel operating system anyway. I had to opt for the external wi-fi, the USB dongle, in order to network w/ Trisquel. I got the TP-LINK TLWN722N and bypassed the internal card. This model dongle is the same chip set as the Penguin model recommended by fsf.org at much less than even half the cost. Plus, I could locate this model inside Thailand and have it shipped to me without being stolen during international shipping, which is what often happens to things of this kind (corruption is a way of life here in Thailand). I could not find a Penguin model in this country.
The problem with the Broadcom stuff is that it almost never works with every new open source distro I try, and I try a lot of them. But the Intel goods are more likely to be written into the kernel and almost always work. That's why I switched. Far less hassle with Intel and open source.
I do not know however if the Intel card inside still creates the hangup even though it is not being used for networking when I boot Trisquel with the dongle. All I know is I switched out the GNOME for the LXDE and everything is smooth as silk and running at normal speed. No complaints.