How To Use Screenlets, VLC and AWN Manager by Logging In As Root

Oh boy, am I going to be criticized for this. But please keep it to yourself, I post this because people should be free to use their computer any way they want, even if that means to break it :P

Before you follow any of the below steps, you show know that YOU MUST NOT LOG IN AS ROOT. If you still chose to do it, then read on.

Screenlets:

1. Press Alt + F2, enter:

gedit /usr/share/screenlets-manager/screenlets-manager.py

2. Search for:

if USER == 0

And replace 0 with 1, each time the above code is displayed.

Avant Window Navigator:

In recent versions, AWN Manager cannot be access under root user. To enable it:

1. Press Alt + F2, and type this:

gedit /usr/bin/awn-manager

2. Search for:

if os.geteuid() == 0:

Change 0 to 1, save and you're done.

Update: in Avant Window Navigator 0.4, the file is now called awn-settings, so to edit it, run this:

gedit /usr/bin/awn-settings

VLC:

Making VLC run under root is a bit tricky as it has binary files. But you can still do it:

1. Create a new file in /usr/local/bin called vlc and paste this in it:

#!/bin/sh

user="username"
xhost local:$user ; su -c "/usr/bin/vlc $@" $user

Replace "username" with your normal username

2. Now either add this path (/usr/local/bin/vlc) to your PATH or create an alias (file .bashrc in your home folder):

alias vlc='/usr/local/bin/vlc'

Now each time you run "vlc", the file in /usr/local/bin/vlc will be access, instead of /usr/bin/vlc and you will be able to open VLC while being logged in as root.

Obviously, both methods described above probably work with other apps to, but be aware: USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK!