Why doesn't Netscape run as root?

Why doesn't Netscape run as root?

This is a bug in Netscape.
Due to a Netscape 4.x bug (it thrashes the $HOME environment variable)
the X11 library cannot find root's .Xauthority file in the root dir
unless your current directory is /.


Large, complex programs
(especially those taking input from & to the Internet)
should not be run as root.
Experienced users and Administrators run as root only for essential
sysadmin tasks.


If you must run as root, try one of these tricks:


  • Make sure you run Netscape with a current directory of /
    (so that the relative pathname '.Xauthority' works)
  • Or start Netscape with HOME="/."
    (so that Netscape doesn't thrash the $HOME variable)
  • Or start Netscape with an environment variable XAUTHORITY="/.Xauthority"


[Thanks to Juergen Keil via John Groenveld]





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