How to remove admin account from Linux Mint?

Linux Mint
1

A few weeks ago I installed a linux mint debian onto a hp computer. As always user and password needed. No problem.

But now the client wants to sell the computer and take off her account and put the user details of the new owner.

Normally I would’do’a’new clean install, saves data transfer and safer. But the client did not want to’pay again.

Easy, add new user and password through the control panel, users.
But to delete the old account I will not let me.

So changed the old admin to user no power
Signed out
Signed in with new account
Control panel and users, old admin account is still there but now a user not administrative

Still it will not let me delete the account.

Suggestions please, suspect it is me and my error

2

Using the command userdel in a terminal window doesn’t work either?

Did you remove the ex-admin from the sudo group?

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3

Tried that and it did not work, even tried sudo userdel, no,

I dont kniw how to do that ?

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4

Try
sudo deluser username sudo

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5

Or in GUI: Click on the list of groups, deselect sudo.

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6

Never saw the right click option !
Will try that next week when I see the maching again
Thanks

I had tried sudo deluser name but had not removed sudo first so it faild but did not understand message

Its now on my to do list.

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7

This reference may help in fixing broken sudo
A further reference on logging in as root might also help.

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8

This will not help Paul, but I really feel that sudo overcomplicates things.
My preference is to get rid of sudo altogether and use a persistent root login.
Ubuntu does the opposite… it suppresses root login and promotes sudo… one of the reasons I dont like Ubuntu or its derivatives.

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9

I was brought up thinking sudo was the most powerful of linux, is there something higher and more powerful

I thought you tried a command, if you did not have rights you could try
Su as in super user
If that failed you went to
Sudo as in superuser do

Am i wrong in my powers ?

I never use su go straight to sudo

10

I don’t find this very practical for my daily use. And I really use the admin capability daily. But when I need more than 2 or 3 commands, I prefer using sudo su.

EDIT:

Many years ago, I had a root session in a console. But I often forgot to close it.

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11

It is all a matter of the way one works.
I mostly do need more than one superuser command… so I keep a special small window open for su. Not recommended today, but that is what people used to do back in BSD days.

One of the ways I cope , as an 80 year old with failing memory, is to limit the amount of complicated and unnecessary addons in my Linuxes. I can get by without sudo, so it is not in use.

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12

Here’s a timely article from It’s FOSS on tweaking sudo which might address some of the comments in this topic.

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13

I read it. To me it indicates that sudo is for large multi-user computers in workplaces. I could not see anything in the article that would help with a simple home computer. It does help with understanding how to configure sudo.

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