Jatecblog

On the Kubuntu, as of Gusty, it isn't very evident how to get a root access terminal. Most distributions give you a root terminal in the menu. If not, you can usually use the su command. Despite the fact that these don't work under Kubuntu, there are many easy ways to get a root terminal on Kubuntu.

sudo su
The man page explains the su command quite well.

su is used to become another user during a login session. Invoked without a username, su defaults to becoming the super user.

This seems all well and good. Unfortunately, Ubuntu doesn't have a password for the root password by default. This is what su uses. Thus, to use the su command under Ubuntu, you must instead run sudo su. This allows you to use your user password to use the root account. To apply this:

• Open up Konsole (K Menu>System>Konsole)
• Run sudo su
• Enter your user password

sudo -s
The -s flag of sudo allows you to execute the shell under the root user. It works essentially the same way as sudo su, but seems to be the preferred method in *Ubuntu support. It's application is almost identical to sudo su.

• Open up Konsole (K Menu>System>Konsole)
• Run sudo -s
• Enter your user password

kdesu konsole
The last option is to make the equivalent of a root terminal on some distributions. To use for only one time, press Alt+F2 and then type in in kdesu konsole. When you type this in, you will be prompted to enter your user password. If this is the method you prefer, then you can make a shortcut to it in K Menu by right clicking on the K Menu button and then selecting Menu Editor.

Hopefully with one of these methods you can find what best fits into your work patterns. If you do anything different, I'd be interested to hear about it.