I think I’ve already used this once, but haven’t explained it properly.
sudo is a tool in Linux, which allows you to perform certain tasks, which require root user privileges. sudo can be translates as super user do. Well, root is the super user. With this account, you have unlimited access to the system.
In short, you’re king…on that PC, at least!
Well, it isn’t a good idea logging in as the root user, because then we wouldn’t even need users would we. So, some ingeniuos fellow came up with sudo, which allows you to impersonate the root user while performing certain tasks.
When you issue a command with sudo prefixed, you’ll need to give your password. Not the root’s password, your own password. Just to authenticate you. You see, someone else can crash your PC, simply by logging in as root, and mucking around with your files. The password is a nice barrier. Also, you’ll need to give your password only once each terminal session. This means that if you open a terminal window, and issue a sudo command, later sudo commands won’t need the password. So, make sure you close that terminal window.
Also, sudo is actually a program itself, and this program accepts other commands as arguments while running. By the way, an argument is a piece of information that you pass onto a program, based on which it works. If you didn’t know this, you should’ve boiled your head by now. sudo is listed as a package in Synaptic. To know more about Synaptic and packages, click here.
There really isn’t much else to say about sudo, so I’ll leave it at that…