Once in a while it is necessary to switch to root. It is already possible to switch to a thunar instance running as root by adding an action 'Run as root' which executes 'gksu thunar %d'. I think something like that might even be a useful addition to the default thunar configuration. Also, it would be helpful if thunar recognized the uid it is running under and displays a notice if it is running as root, because working as root is potentially risky. (for a suggestion on how this should look like, see e.g. the last picture in http://pcmanfm.sourceforge.net/screenshots.html).
Created attachment 750 Ubuntu mockup I have this Ubuntu mockup hanging on my TODO list for some time.
Created attachment 751 QnD And this is how the patch for thunar looks right now (ported to the latest SVN).
Fixed with revision 22923. 2006-08-28 Benedikt Meurer <benny@xfce.org> * thunar/thunar-window.c: Add warning text to the window when running as super user. Bug #2218.