Re: The history of the name 'Root' (as in superuser)?

From: Lew Pitcher (Lew.Pitcher_at_td.com)
Date: 12/13/04 

Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 11:20:26 -0500

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Laurenz Albe wrote:
> Heiden <ebbmar@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>Why is the super user called 'root'?
>>In the context of filesystems, it's clear, since every directory
>>branches out from the top directory, but in the context of users, I
>>have no clue..
>
>
> I'd say it is because / is root's home directory (in most UNIces).

More likely because the root process that manages (directly or indirectly) /all/
other processes runs under uid 0, and in order to start the initial process for
any other uid, the parent process must be run as uid 0. These two make uid 0 the
'root' of all process management in Unix.

Just my guess, of course.

- --
Lew Pitcher
IT Consultant, Enterprise Data Systems,
Enterprise Technology Solutions, TD Bank Financial Group

(Opinions expressed are my own, not my employers')
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