Starting an application as root

[Norm]

Todd Zullinger wrote:
> Norm wrote:
>   
>> When running in Gnome some applications when the start require the
>> root pasword to continue, others such as the gui interface for nmap
>> will open with limited options available.  It is simple enough to
>> switch to a command line process to run it but I am looking for a
>> way to switch to root or sudo during the process of starting the
>> application.  Is there a simple modification to the open command in
>> the GUI interface to call for the entry of a password to open the
>> application as root
>>     
>
> The apps that request a password use consolehelper for this.  If you
> wanted to make nmap run as root, you could add a file in
> /etc/security/console.apps/ and create a symlink to consolehelper in
> /usr/bin.
>
> See the consolehelper man page and use the existing apps as a
> guide to configuring nmap.
>
> There was a thread on this last week and alternatives such as gksu and
> gksudo were discussed.  Those tools can be useful in some situations,
> but they aren't included in Fedora as running gui apps as root opens
> up some cans of security worms.
>
> The approach that's best for you depends on how much of a security
> freak you are and on how many apps you want to run as root.
>
> For nmap, I personally just use sudo nmap in a terminal when I need to
> do some auditing/scanning.
>
>   
Thanks Todd
I must have been asleep last week when the thread was discussed.
running nmap as sudo in a terminal is probably the best way.  I only
used nmap as an example or the situation I was thinking of.  I haven't
tried your solution yet  but it will probably work well fro some of the
other situations I have run across.
Thanks  for your help
Norm