<
p
><
em
>
root
em
>
is
the
user
name
or
account
that
by
default
has
access
to
all
<
a
href
="
http
://
www
.
linfo
.
org
/
command
.
html
">
commands
a
>
and
<
a
href
="
http
://
www
.
linfo
.
org
/
file
.
html
">
files
a
>
on
a
<
a
href
="
http
://
www
.
linfo
.
org
/
linuxdef
.
html
">
Linux
a
>
or
other
<
a
href
="
http
://
www
.
linfo
.
org
/
unix
-
like
.
html
">
Unix
-
like
a
>
<
a
href
="
http
://
www
.
linfo
.
org
/
operating_system
.
html
">
operating
system
a
>.
It
is
also
referred
to
as
the
<
em
>
root
account
em
>,
<
em
>
root
user
em
>
and
the
<
em
>
superuser
em
>.
<
br
/><
em
><
br
/>
Root
privileges
em
>
are
the
powers
that
the
root
account
has
on
the
system
.
The
root
account
is
the
most
privileged
on
the
system
and
has
absolute
power
over
it
(
i
.
e
.,
complete
access
to
all
files
and
commands
).
Among
root
'
s
powers
are
the
ability
to
modify
the
system
in
any
way
desired
and
to
grant
and
revoke
<
a
href
="
http
://
www
.
linfo
.
org
/
permissions
.
html
"><
em
>
access
permissions
em
>
a
>
(
i
.
e
.,
the
ability
to
read
,
modify
and
execute
specific
files
and
directories
)
for
other
users
,
including
any
of
those
that
are
by
default
reserved
for
root
.
p
> <
br
><
p
>
The
word
<
em
>
root
em
>
also
has
several
additional
,
related
meanings
when
used
as
part
of
other
terms
,
and
thus
it
can
be
a
source
of
confusion
to
people
new
to
Unix
-
like
systems
.
p
> <
br
><
p
>
One
of
these
is
the
<
a
href
="
http
://
www
.
linfo
.
org
/
root_directory
.
html
"><
em
>
root
directory
em
>
a
>,
which
is
the
<
em
>
top
level
directory
em
>
on
a
system
.
That
is
,
it
is
the
<
a
href
="
http
://
www
.
linfo
.
org
/
directory
.
html
">
directory
a
>
in
which
all
other
directories
,
including
their
subdirectories
,
and
files
reside
.
The
root
directory
is
designated
by
a
<
a
href
="
http
://
www
.
linfo
.
org
/
forward_slash
.
html
">
forward
slash
a
>
(
/
).
p
> <
br
><
p
>
Another
is
<
a
href
="
http
://
www
.
linfo
.
org
/
slash_root
.
html
"><
em
>/
root
em
>
a
>
(
pronounced
<
em
>
slash
root
em
>),
which
is
the
root
user
'
s
<
a
href
="
http
://
www
.
linfo
.
org
/
home_directory
.
html
"><
em
>
home
directory
em
>
a
>.
A
home
directory
is
the
primary
repository
of
a
user
'
s
files
,
including
that
user
'
s
configuration
files
,
and
it
is
usually
the
directory
in
which
a
user
finds
itself
when
it
<
a
href
="
http
://
www
.
linfo
.
org
/
login_def
.
html
">
logs
into
a
>
a
system
.
/
root
is
a
subdirectory
of
the
root
directory
,
as
indicated
by
the
forward
slash
that
begins
its
name
,
and
should
not
to
be
confused
with
that
directory
.
Home
directories
for
users
other
than
root
are
by
default
created
in
the
<
a
href
="
http
://
www
.
linfo
.
org
/
home
.
html
"><
em
>/
home
em
>
a
>
directory
,
which
is
another
standard
subdirectory
of
the
root
directory
.
p
>