I haven’t really used Linux, but I feel it might be useful for a potential project. Is it possible, and how doable is it, to have a password locked admin account and an open user account which is heavily restricted on what they can do? As in, not even browse files. Preferrably only desktop access where they can launch the apps placed there. Which Linux would be the best for this while still being on the easier side to figure out? I do understand tech somewhat well and quite enjoy problem solving, so doesn’t need to be ELI5 territory.
Thanks for the advice! The premission stuff sounds perfect. So by default, basic account can’t really mess anything up, even if it’s a tech literate person using it?
In theory if there are no security holes, a user account can only mess up its own account.
Note that what steps you want to take will really depend on who these users are and what you want to achieve. There’s a vast chasm between allowing in, say, friends or colleagues, vs. letting random people on the internet access it. The latter will mean someone will intentionally look for exploits, which means e.g. regularly applying security updates becomes far more pressing.
If you are letting in random strangers, I’d look into only giving them access within a separate container or ideally virtual machine per user as an extra precaution unless what you’re making available is very stripped down.
Correct, users that are not explicitly configured as
sudoersare limited both in files they can access and commands they can run.Awesome!