“expert” Mode Install and Admin (sudo) for Users May 26, 2006
Posted by Carthik in administration, ubuntu.trackback
If you chose to install Ubuntu in the expert mode, then you can create an use a root user, just like in any other distro. However, this might leave normal users with no admin privileges, so they’ll have trouble running Synaptic, configuring the network etc. In the normal mode, the first user is automatically setup as an admin, so you can use sudo (or gksudo) to execute programs as an administrator (root user equivalent).
If, however, you installed Ubuntu in the expert mode, and still want some users to be admins, you can use this solution. You can create a group called admin, and give this group admin privileges. Then you can add all the users you want to have these privileges to this group.
The command for this are as follows:
#addgroup --system admin
#visudo
The sudoers file should then be edited to include:
%admin ALL=(ALL) ALL
#adduser username admin
The above commands are to be executed as the root user, of course. Replace username with the username of the user that you want to give admin privileges to.
Ubuntu Blog 
It is considered very bad to set up sudo profiles without using visudo. If visudo is installed (as it should be since, as I recall, it comes with sudo by default) the second command should be replaced with:
#visudo
The sudoers file can then be edited to include:
%admin ALL=(ALL) ALL
Once the file is save visudo will verify that the sudoers file is valid (it being broken can make life… interesting to say the least).
Thanks Graham. I made a correction to the post.
No problem. Glad to help 🙂
cool site…
check this out: http://www.aspectinformation.info/ 5…
Why don’t they fix this problem when installing in expert mode. I mean allowing people not setting normal user passw (for using sudo), instead of root password? Where can I suggest this fix to ubuntu developers for the next release (Edgy)?
but how does one edit the sudoers file??? bitch won’t open…?
use visudo
No problem. Glad to help 🙂
Thanks Graham. I made a correction to the post.
kank bu isimi niye kulandin?