What is root?
Root is the name of the most powerful account on a Debian installation. The root user account can do everything on the machine. Root is also known as supervisor and administrator. It's home (~) folder is /root.
At installation time, you are asked whether you want to use the root account or not.
if you want to (the default), you'll be asked to provide a complex password for root. Use a strong one!
if not, no root account is enabled and the password of the first user created will be used for administration tasks.
If you forgot your password, read [http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/ch-tips#s-crackroot "I forgot the root password!"]
How to use root level access as a normal user.
- Under Gnome : in Gnome Application Menu/Accessories/Root Terminal
From console : read Debian Reference's [http://www.debian.org/doc/manuals/reference/ch-tutorial#s-login-root Login to a shell prompt as root]
In a terminal, you can use [http://manpages.debian.net/man/1/su su] (or [http://manpages.debian.net/man/1/gksu gksu]) to change your identity to root, However, it's recommended to configure and use [http://manpages.debian.net/man/1/sudo sudo] (or [http://manpages.debian.net/man/1/gksudo gksudo]) to run a given command.