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this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2024
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You don't run VLC as root because you don't especially trust that build of VLC
We don't run random stuff as root because it's a stupid risk. We try to only take necessary risks. Risks that make things easier. Running random programs as root gains you nothing and causes annoyance in that you need to fix permissions on its configuration files if you want to run out as a user
There is nothing stopping you though if you want to set up a Linux machine where you log in as root, run a desktop environment as root, run apps as root. You're unlikely to be taking an unreasonable risk as a home user.
For the reasons you described, I won't run VLC as root, and I don't think 99% of users would need to. But if someone wanted to do it, the software shouldn't stop them from doing it (beyond giving a warning and asking them to confirm).