https://faq.i3wm.org/questions/Frequently asked questions and answers about the i3 window managerenCopyright i3, 2012Wed, 23 Apr 2014 14:12:31 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/I have created a shortcut for starting chrome in root. but when i issue a command that opens a browser it gives me the usual "google chrome cannot be run as root". so what im wondering is can i create an alias so that anytime linux tries to run "chrome" it runs my command instead? Mon, 21 Apr 2014 21:20:31 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/?comment=3719#comment-3719What browser is used is not decided by i3. You'll have to look how (and if) a default browser is set for your distribution. Also applications of specific desktop environments (KDE, Gnome, Xfce) will most likely use whatever is set with the respective configuration tool.Wed, 23 Apr 2014 11:41:32 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/?comment=3719#comment-3719https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/?comment=3709#comment-3709Wait a sec... Running your browser _as_ the user root is a Very Bad Idea. Or do you mean something different with _in_ root? Tue, 22 Apr 2014 18:13:31 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/?comment=3709#comment-3709https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/?answer=3722#post-id-3722There are two ways to accomplish this. The first is a shell alias that you can configure from your shell rc file, such as `~/.zshrc` or `~/.bashrc` which are useful to add default options or shorten commands you commonly use. alias off="xset dpms force off" alias xclip="xclip -selection clipboard" alias dtrx="dtrx --one=here --noninteractive" For anything more complicated, add a `bin` directory to your home folder and put it in the front of your PATH. The scripts here will override anything that comes later. Also in your shell rc file: export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH More info: [intro to zsh aliases](http://zsh.sourceforge.net/Intro/intro_8.html)Wed, 23 Apr 2014 14:12:31 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/?answer=3722#post-id-3722https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/?answer=3715#post-id-3715i know that running anything in root is very dangerous, but i am using Kali linux (im an IT student). most of the programs in Kali linux require you to be the root user, so root is the default user that you login to. so having all of that said, and knowing the dangers. Is there a way to create an alias somehow so that when a program calls for the default browser it loads my script not the actual program?? or is there a way to permanently fix chrome to work in root?Wed, 23 Apr 2014 08:44:18 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/?answer=3715#post-id-3715https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/?comment=3721#comment-3721The format here is like stack overflow. These responses are so called "answers" to the given question and simply saying this is a bad idea is not an answer.Wed, 23 Apr 2014 14:03:29 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/?comment=3721#comment-3721https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/?comment=3718#comment-3718i know how to run my browser as root. i wrote a script as a "shortcut" so that i could call the script instead of the full command. i can run my browser just fine. my problem is that when an application calls the browser or tries to open the browser as a regular user instead of as root.Wed, 23 Apr 2014 10:59:02 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/?comment=3718#comment-3718https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/?comment=3717#comment-3717Sorry, if you want to run your browser as root, you are assumed to have some understanding of how stuff works. The fact that you ask this question, and the wording that you choose, seem like you are lacking some of that understanding. Wed, 23 Apr 2014 10:26:32 +0000https://faq.i3wm.org/question/3708/how-do-i-create-an-alias-in-i3/?comment=3717#comment-3717