12.8. The Root Account

An administrator's account isn't exactly a skeleton key that gives unfettered access to every corner of the Mac. Even an administrator isn't allowed to remove files from the System folder, or other files whose removal could hobble the machine.

It turns out that Normal and Administrator aren't the only kinds of accounts. There's one account that wields ultimate power, one person who can do anything to any file anywhere. This person is called the superuser.