> Why aren't you running all your software as root?
A lot of software gets snippy when you try to run them as root. That said, the biggest advantage of non-root is protecting myself from fucking up my own system.
If somebody gets access to my user account, they can't change my system files, but they can literally buy an entire new PC with my money, on which they can then presumably change whatever system files they want. I hope that example outlines how pointless root protection is in a modern consumer PC.
> they can't change my system files, but they can literally buy an entire new PC with my money
This is a problem that's fixable with additional security additions, but only if you haven't granted everyone root access.
You can set up ssh with appropriate privileges and chown private keys so that they require a password to access. You can run certain programs like games as unprivileged users without full access to your $HOME directory. You can start using Flatpak and Wayland. Unless you have a Spectre/Meltdown vulnerability, in which case most of that is pointless.
I don't understand the mentality that says, "my system is broadly insecure, so I'd better make it impossible to secure." I mention this elsewhere[0], but a big part of getting to a secure Linux system is patching the holes we can right now.
A lot of software gets snippy when you try to run them as root. That said, the biggest advantage of non-root is protecting myself from fucking up my own system.
XKCD relevant: https://xkcd.com/1200/
If somebody gets access to my user account, they can't change my system files, but they can literally buy an entire new PC with my money, on which they can then presumably change whatever system files they want. I hope that example outlines how pointless root protection is in a modern consumer PC.