Some premises
- It is not advised (really not advised) but you can change that name.
- It was not always so [1]
some early UNIX systems (particularly ones from CMU) called the user "avatar" - to designate the special state and try to dissuade people from logging in as it. In those same old days, since BSD systems used /bin/csh as the default root shell, sometimes you would see systems with the login sroot and kroot as a second & third line in the password file with /bin/sh and /bin/ksh as the default shell.
Simply It becomes the prevailing one.
It's related to the fact that the root user is the only to have the ownership of the root folder (/
) on which all the file system resides (all other files and directories, including their subdirectories, and files), so de facto as root of all powers and privileges, of all processes (remember that init
is the root of the processes and it is owned by root too) and of the critical processes, the daemons ...
It's possible to find some support more on the Linux Information Project states in its root page [2]
The use of the term root for the all-powerful administrative user may have arisen from the fact that root is the only account having write permissions (i.e., permission to modify files) in the root directory.
Stripping some text more from the root page of The Linux Information Project [2]
root is the user name or account that by default has access to all commands and files on a Linux or other Unix-like operating system. It is also referred to as the root account, root user and the superuser.
...
Root privileges 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 access permissions (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.
...
The use of the term root for the all-powerful administrative user may have arisen from the fact that root is the only account having write permissions (i.e., permission to modify files) in the root directory. The root directory, in turn, takes its name from the fact that the filesystems (i.e., the entire hierarchy of directories that is used to organize files) in Unix-like operating systems have been designed with a tree-like (although inverted) structure in which all directories branch off from a single directory that is analogous to the root of a tree.
...
(speaking about the Unix beginning)
It was also necessary to have a means for enabling a system administrator to perform such tasks as entering user directories and files to correct individual problems, granting and revoking powers for ordinary users, and accessing critical system files to repair or upgrade the system.
(Here it is implied the need of a hierarchy and a root point from which to start from.)
BTW it's seems that the name God
was just taken and could stir up resentments and protests...
28Origin of 'root' account. – Kamil Maciorowski – 2018-01-22T16:27:50.670
5
Read the link on the further reading section of my answer to the "Super User" question :) history - Origin of 'root' account - Unix & Linux Stack Exchange
– DavidPostill – 2018-01-22T17:51:21.573@emory as far as linux is concerned, it's more than convention it's inbuilt. see for ex: this unix & linux question or linuxquestions
– mcalex – 2018-01-22T19:46:48.16014ockquote>
– mcalex – 2018-01-22T19:54:26.1002
@mcalex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superuser says "In some cases, the actual name of the account is not the determining factor; on Unix-like systems, for example, the user with a user identifier (UID) of zero is the superuser, regardless of the name of that account ... In Unix-like computer OSes, root is the conventional name of the user who has all rights or permissions (to all files and programs) in all modes (single- or multi-user). Alternative names include baron in BeOS and avatar on some Unix variants"
– emory – 2018-01-23T01:17:34.6671I always thought it was short for "root access". – 287352 – 2018-01-23T04:29:35.073
2@mcalex I always assumed it was named by Australians because it's the account that can "root" your computer. – mcottle – 2018-01-24T03:33:43.963
"
root
of all evil"? – Ivanka Todorova – 2018-01-24T08:16:31.7332With the Zeus (Zilog enhanced UNIX system) for Z8000, the super user was
zeus
. – Jonathan Leffler – 2018-01-25T13:31:25.033