Being root

[Smoot Carl-Mitchell]

On Wed, 2009-06-24 at 10:47 -0500, Mark Nichols wrote:

> If my memory is correct, the root password when you install Ubuntu 
> starts with an unprintable character, making it impossible for you to 
> enter at a password prompt. This effectively "locks" the password. So, 
> yes, it is encrypted, but in such a fashion as to make using it impossible.

It is not unprintable, the hash sequence is simply not in the correct
format.  Putting something like '!' in the password field will
effectively lock the account.  Take a peek at /etc/shadow sometime.
-- 
Smoot Carl-Mitchell
Computer Systems and
Network Consultant
smoot at tic.com
+1 480 922 7313
cell: +1 602 421 9005