I've run into a problem in 9.1 where I call /sbin/yast2 and I never see the window that asks me for the root password. Instead I get the user-level version of YaST with reduced capabilities. However, if I summon Yast via the K menu, it gives me the query window and works correctly. On further investigation I discovered the difference between the K menu call and the explicit call: the K menu call has an option "run program as a different user". That option is checked, and the user name is blank. I also discovered that I can create a desktop object for YaST2 and the behavior there is the same: if the object specifies "run as a different user" and the user is blank, it works correctly; if "run as a different user" is unchecked, it runs only at user level. So my two questions are: 1. What exactly is the effect of "run as a different user", both in general and in the particular case where the user name is blank? 2. Is there a way to get that effect from an ordinary command line? Paul Abrahams