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    One other important bit of information to understand the related command sudo su otheruser is that su allows the root to switch into any users without entering their password, while non-root users that runs su have to input the target user's password. sudo su therefore runs su as root, which allows you to get a shell for another user without knowing their password (as long as it's allowed by sudoers).
    – Lie Ryan
    Commented Apr 25, 2013 at 9:06
  • So what would my root password be for the "su" command? How come it isnt the password I set in the beginning of the installation?
    – agz
    Commented Apr 25, 2013 at 23:23
  • Because your distribution probably didn't set it. You can set a root password running sudo passwd (first provide your user password, then choose a new root password).
    – Renan
    Commented Apr 26, 2013 at 0:41
  • So at the moment there is no password?...so basically root is just an account that sudoers can use to make changes to root files?
    – agz
    Commented Apr 26, 2013 at 3:18
  • not just that, there are many other services that have to run as root (check ps aux).
    – Renan
    Commented Apr 26, 2013 at 6:15