OK, if "root" is disabled why is root still running app?

Question

A question for you UNIX gurus, or maybe I'm still paranoid. If the root user is disabled how can the root user still run stuff? In Activity Monitor I see "root" running all sorts of activities, all of which look like system activities (notifyd, securityd, memberd, etc.).
Perhaps someone can explain root a little more to me, and I can put my paranoia to rest. Or, more specifically, what users should I see or not see (windowserver, nobody, unknown, and all these other folks I see in NetInfo Manager)?
TIA

Answer 1

Bob
Saying "root is disabled" is really a shorthand for "the root account is disabled for login". Unix wouldn't work without root and these other users beavering away under the hood.
You should have all these system users on your machine (and maybe others if you have installed other software). This lists User ID (UID), short name, and full name:
<pre>-2 nobody Unprivileged User
0 root System Administrator
1 daemon System Services
99 unknown Unknown User
26 lp Printing Services
27 postfix Postfix User
70 www World Wide Web Server
71 eppc Apple Events User
74 mysql MySQL Server
75 sshd sshd Privilege separation
76 qtss QuickTime Streaming Server
6 cyrusimap Cyrus IMAP User
78 mailman Mailman user
79 appserver Application Server
82 clamav Clamav User
83 amavisd Amavisd User
84 jabber Jabber User
85 xgridcontroller Xgrid Controller
86 xgridagent Xgrid Agent
87 appowner Application Owner
88 windowserver WindowServer
91 tokend Token Daemon
92 securityagent SecurityAgent</pre>Just let them get on with their job!