UNIX Desktop Questions & Answers

In Ubuntu one does not normally need the root password because you use sudo instead, so my mentioning root password applies to other industry Unix es.
In Ubuntu your account is an administrator account by virtue of being in the admin group. My account in Ubuntu is in the following groups:
tony@laptop:~$ groups
tony adm dialout cdrom plugdev lpadmin admin sambashare newgroup
tony@laptop:~$

On the ~/.exrc file question you either edit it using vi to add the "set number" line OR you use the echo method to add it to the end of the file, either way if there was no ~/.exrc file presnet before then it should only contain the line:

Code:

set number

but to use some commands... i am getting denied with permissions. why is it so if the user account holds the admin privilages.

---------- Post updated at 12:37 AM ---------- Previous update was at 12:34 AM ----------

:set number works fine. but it gives line numbers only for current session. to have the line numbers every session, I need to edit .exrc

what is .exrc is it a file that can be opened with vi and can be edited? if so where it is located?

cos' i tried to open it with

vi *.exrc and added the lines... but it is not saved.

.exrc is located in your home directory. This is the directory where you are placed when you first login.
The ~ (tilde) character is a short form for "my home directory", so

Code:

vi ~/.exrc

will edit the .exrc in your home directory whether you are in it or not.