Super User new flavor

From openSUSE

When a user wants to log in as root, the preferred way is su.

The most common use of su is to type su by itself. By typing su by itself you are only instating the maximum privileges allowed for the current logged in user. All of the environment variables (home directory, preferences, etc.) will still be the same. It's specially handy if you want to work in the present folder, but this might hinder your ability, still, to edit particular system files or make adjustments to your systems core services.

If you need the full administrative privileges of root or better stated, true root then you simply have to type su -.

SUSE 10.0 will comply with this convention (not always the case before).

So if ever you have problem to find your root files or make specific changes with the su command, give su - a try.