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I have to learn ubuntu for a class and so I have to change it around and play with it on a virtualized machine.

Point is, how can I just remove having to use a password all the time, and just make it give me all the power when I startup the machine, not just in the terminal?

I am trying to move a theme folder into this:

kelvinelove
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Jon Whittaker
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    You do not need to be a super user to install themes, and I discourage such a practice. Put them in ~/.themes. Easier and more secure and nothing I hate more is some smart %^&* sys admin deciding what themes I want ;p – Panther Sep 22 '17 at 18:43
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    For all other issues see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo and in a terminal please use sudo -i. – Panther Sep 22 '17 at 18:43

2 Answers2

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Ubuntu is set up, by default, without the ability to log in or run continually as root or superuser specifically because people who don't know what they're doing have no idea just how ignorant they are. One wrong keystroke, or a drag and drop, when you're running as root, can render your OS non-functional or lose all your data files. The inability to log in and run as root is an important safeguard.

Even in a VM, making what seems, at the time, a minor error while logged as root will involve someone else taking their time to reinstall, and will almost certainly lose all the class work you've done to that point. I've been using Linux for eight years, and I don't run in root -- in fact, my last Ubuntu install, I didn't even enable a specific "root" account (I had done so previously, because I was used to having one from earlier Linux versions, but I'm now convinced it's unnecessary). A root account is genuinely not needed; sudo can do anything necessary, and the need to enter a password from time to time reminds you that you have the power to completely hose your system -- and so need to double check what you've typed before you hit enter. Running as root in a GUI is just a bad, bad idea.

Zeiss Ikon
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    I started using Unix in 1985 and would never run by default as root. Not only, as others have said, can one screwup cause total loss of all your files and your system but anyone getting in as you (say you walk away for a minute while logged in) can intentionally or inadvertently do the same. – jpezz Sep 22 '17 at 20:36
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In addition to the good advice you have already been given, IMO you are better off learning how to work with Ubuntu.

I strongly advise against blindly running everything as root all the time especially as a new user.

To give you what I consider the best "answer" to your "problem" with themes, users can control their settings and themes without root powers.

Put your themes in ~/.themes and icons in ~/.icons

Safer and more secure than putting them in system directories.

Depending on your version of Ubuntu, you can use gnome-tweak-tool and gnome extensions, as a user, to manage the look and feel of themes.

See http://www.wikihow.com/Change-Themes-on-Ubuntu-with-Gnome-Tweak-Tool

You can manage extensions from there or directly with your web browser

https://extensions.gnome.org/

https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/GnomeShellIntegrationForChrome/Installation

Some additional advice , as a new user, read about file permissions and root

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/FilePermissions

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo

For a root shell, use sudo -i, best isolates root from your user, see https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudo#Special_notes_on_sudo_and_shells

Panther
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