Finding File Manager for Both Versions

[oshunluvr]

There is no Kate in Zorin when I searched for it. I just installed Zorin and I wanted to change my status to always be "root" or admin can I do this in terminal or elsewhere? I don't want any restrictions on file access and I want to change those update files in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/ so even though this is a different distro than Kubuntu I assume you may know the pathway to do this since its still Ubuntu? thank you

I've never tried out Zorin, but if Kate isn't there, install it.

It's almost guaranteed you will break any system if you log in to the GUI as root, but it's your system so have at it.

I've never encountered a distro where there wasn't a root password or admin user set at install time. Either use "sudo" or log into the terminal as root, but like I said - breakage is eminent if you launch GUI programs as root. Not to mention you're subverting the most important Linux security protocol - not using the system as root. Allowing users to do admin stuff is exactly why Windows is such a virus target.

Perhaps instead of asking for instructions on how to mess up your system, why not ask about what you are specifically trying to do? What "files" in /etc/apt.conf.d/ do you want to update and why? Again - I've not ever used Zorin - but with Kubuntu there are GUI tools to edit those files if you are an admin user. If you installed the system yourself then you are the admin user.

[Snowhog]

Just open Dolphin and navigate to the desired folder, right-click on the file you want to edit and choose Open with Kate... Edit to your hearts content. When you are done and click on Save, you will asked for your password. That's how things work (now) in Kubuntu.

[Ironhide]

well I don't care if it messes up the system because if it does I can just wipe it and reinstall. I keep nothing on the system, no files, zero so it doesn't matter if I break it, and then just reload it again or another distro. I'm constantly testing out distros for 4 computers so its not like I'm preserving old data.

the goal is; I want to shutdown ALL automatic updates in "everything" the system, security, apps, store, ALL programs, with zero updates is the ultimate goal. I know the risks, I don't need tutelages on how bad it is to do, these are all test runs so the risks don't matter really.

I want to "always" be logged in as root, I installed the system myself so I should be the owner of it, there shouldn't be "Read-Only" files. But there are 18 files in /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/ that are only "Read-Only" files and I want to write over those files that have updates in them.

[Ironhide]

Just open Dolphin and navigate to the desired folder, right-click on the file you want to edit and choose Open with Kate... Edit to your hearts content. When you are done and click on Save, you will asked for your password. That's how things work (now) in Kubuntu.

...I'm going to need to find this "Kate" another girl that eludes me :/ lol maybe their store has it, if inot I need to find it outside it.

[Snowhog]

Kate is the 'default' GUI text editor in Kubuntu. I'd be very surprised; shocked even; if it isn't installed. If you click on an empty area of the Desktop and just type kate, KRunner will open and 'should' show you as the first selectable item, Kate Advanced Text Editor. If it doesn't, then it would appear that you don't have kate installed. In that case, open a konsole and type: sudo apt update && sudo apt install kate

[Schwarzer Kater]

The OP seems to be in Zorin OS now - if it is the "standard" and not the "light" edition the installed text editor is the old default GNOME text editor gedit.

PS: One can find it in the -> Zorin Menu -> Accessories.
And the only way to edit system files with it is to start it in GNOME Terminal with sudo gedit.

Oh, and I forgot :

[…] It's almost guaranteed you will break any system if you log in to the GUI as root, but it's your system so have at it. […]

[Snowhog]

The OP seems to be in Zorin OS now

Then he shouldn’t be seeking help here.

[Ironhide]

well I'm testing a few different uBuntu distros with Kubuntu being my preffered distro on my bigger machine. so, I downloaded Kate from their website, the AppImage downloader file just sits in the Downloads folder. I click on it to open, I drag-n’-drop a file from the apt.conf.d into Kate, I make an edit but then get a pop-up

Error—Kate - The document could not be saved, as it was not possible to write to /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/15update-stamp. Check that you have write access to this file or that enough disk spaces available. …and then it just goes on with more garble.

Its not a disk space problem but an access problem. Is there a way to make a global setting as the user being full admin root?

Snowhog I ran the “open a konsole and type: sudo apt install kate” ..with no update word in the command, it then asked me for a password,
Reading package lists…done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information…done
E:Unable to locate package kate

Why wouldn’t it recognize Kate in my downloads folder?

@Kater it is their standard version which they call Core not the Lite version. and if the GNOME version is just labeled Text Editor with the white page and pencil icon then yes I have that and I first used it because it comes up on the right click menu but doesn’t allow edits, says Read-only.

I basically need a setting to make the user the admin root user, can I do this in terminal or somewhere? and yes, I’m ready to just blow up this naked system, wipe and start over again.

[Schwarzer Kater]

[…]
@Kater it is their standard version which they call Core not the Lite version. and if the GNOME version is just labeled Text Editor with the white page and pencil icon then yes I have that and I first used it because it comes up on the right click menu but doesn’t allow edits, says Read-only.
[…]

Well, I told you already: … the only way to edit system files with it should be to start it in GNOME Terminal with sudo gedit.

Linux (which is actually only the kernel, but let's use this term for the sake of it…) is like a box of Lego bricks - 100.000s of different components that come in different colours and shapes, and some of them do similar things in different ways. And a distribution like Debian or Fedora puts many of those "bricks" together to make a working operating system - but they chose not only many, many different "bricks" but also different ways of putting them together.
To fully understand Linux one has to understand all crucial parts and how they (can) work together and interact (some of them I don't fully - even after 25 years of Linux, 2/3 of them as a hobby and 1/3 professionally ).
A simple example like text editors: there are several dozens of well-known ones and probably hundreds alltogether. And they all act a bit differently and react differently to the many other components of a system. And they have to be integrated into the system and provided with certain additional components for some of their aspects to work.

In a Kubuntu forum you will get informations mostly about KDE Plasma, Frameworks, Gear and the programs the Kubuntu team provides additionally to Gear, a bit Qt and fundamental things about Ubuntu and Linux.
But keep in mind that Kubuntu can be and is very different from even e.g. Linux Lite or Zorin OS which are also based on Ubuntu - you already have three completely different default desktop environments here, and this starts with applications like their default text editors up to GUI core components like their default windows managers.

What you want to do is to enable the root account (which is in principle disabled in most Ubuntu-based systems - for a reason) and log into a graphical session as root.
Search the internet for how to do that in an Ubuntu-based system. I strongly advise against it.

[Ironhide]

I talked with my buddy today who is a PornHub coder (yes you heard correct) in Tbilisi for now, and he walked me through some simple steps to gain full access to the whole system. I stumbled upon making a new account for an admin and just switched to it. The Zorin default user account is set up as a limited user, that sucks, Feren is more freer.

So he instructed me to right-click anywhere in the target folder field area, click on Open in Terminal on the submenu, then run the following command(s) based on your target folder pathway then press enter

/etc/apt/apt.conf.d$ cd ../
/etc/apt$ sudo chmod -R 777 apt.conf.d/

then it will say [sudo] password for login name: type in your password then enter and done

/etc/apt$ will appear on the next line and then you can edit all files in that folder in any File Editor (which I did in the default GNOME to change all update command lines)

// in the front of any line is a comment line not a command line, it doesn’t do anything but putting // in front of any command line turns it into a comment line that does nothing
or use a # in front of any command line turns it into a comment line that does nothing // or # depends on the type of program you are using, just google the file name (which I did)

To Change File Permissions in Terminal use Commands

sudo chmod -R 777 /path/to/folder_name
sudo chown -R username:usergroup folder_name

this is for each folder you want to change, you do it once per folder

if you change the word update to something else, it will create a “silent” or “active” error which the “silent” could just be a log line in a changelog and the “active” could be a popup error alert, again it depends upon the system (which I did)

change all words that says auto or true to false in the script (which I did)

...this is the instructions list I wrote for myself today to turn off all updates of any and all programs in an Ubuntu system. Let's not forget, Linux was created to give the end-user the flexibility to do whatever he wants. If someone like me wants to shut down all automatic updates of "everything" then that is my own prerogative to do so. It really doesn't matter if someone else thinks its wrong, its my computer and I can do whatever I want to it, I can take a Wagner PMC sledgehammer to it or toss it out the window if I want.

I have said here repeatedly, I have "ZERO" data on these mini-PC sticks, I can crash them, wipe them, reload them, retest them, over-and-over again, breaking the system doesn't matter at all. I don't know how much more clear I can be about that, there is a "ZERO" sacrifice if the system breaks, but I know that it won't, it's only update commands.

But based on the Ideology of Linux to give flexibilty and customizability to the end-user how he sees fit, another person should not try to hinder the goals of the person trying to do the task. I have heard all warnings not to shutdown updates but discounted them without a 2nd thought. The whole purpose of me moving to Linux was to permanently stop constant updates that can't be shut off in Windows 10 to stop flooding up small 32 gb hard drives with 2gb RAM leaving only 500mb's of space making the mini-PC inoperable. I have also stated this repeatedly in this thread. So now why would I want to repeat THAT same thing with auto-updates when moving to Linux? I know what I'm doing, I'm not a coder but I have been using computers everyday since 1996. So I'm not a rookie, but just with Linux for 2 weeks.

And out of the 113 views of this thread, there was no coder on this whole forum that could have just told me -

/etc/apt/apt.conf.d$ cd ../
/etc/apt$ sudo chmod -R 777 apt.conf.d/

from the beginning and I would have been all done just like that. I find it hard to believe that no one on this forum knows these 2 command lines to open up script files. I hope that some forum members here don't purposely want to thwart the goals of other forum members whom are trying to accomplish a particular task whether other members agree with that goal or not. Just answer the questions of the forum member correctly in the simple way and not try to be another obstacle for him.

Thank you to the people who have responded with good advice in this thread.