Root Can somone explain "root" to me?

[RadioRaiders]

Can someone explain, in a nutshell, what is "rooting"? Or maybe point me to a guide? I'm familiar with Linux, and I understand there are different user privileges, and I know Android is open-source so you can pop the hood and tweak what you want... I suppose that would be "rooting"? Someone took the Android source code, modified it in some ways, and re-distributed it? What are the benefits of that? I see alot of people "Overclocking" the processor, but I'm not sure it's a good idea to mess with that, as overclocking can burn out your processor. ..but anyway, besides that, what other reasons are there to "root"? ...and if I wanted to make my own custom version (ROM?) how do I do that? ...and would it be useable on all Android phones, or I guess just for one particular model? (ex: one ROM for Milestone, another for HTC G1, etc..)?)
...sorry for so many questions all at once!

 

[TelusMilestone]

Can someone explain, in a nutshell, what is "rooting"? Or maybe point me to a guide? I'm familiar with Linux, and I understand there are different user privileges, and I know Android is open-source so you can pop the hood and tweak what you want... I suppose that would be "rooting"? Someone took the Android source code, modified it in some ways, and re-distributed it? What are the benefits of that? I see alot of people "Overclocking" the processor, but I'm not sure it's a good idea to mess with that, as overclocking can burn out your processor. ..but anyway, besides that, what other reasons are there to "root"? ...and if I wanted to make my own custom version (ROM?) how do I do that? ...and would it be useable on all Android phones, or I guess just for one particular model? (ex: one ROM for Milestone, another for HTC G1, etc..)?)
...sorry for so many questions all at once!

Rooting is exactly what you thought it might be. Gaining super user privileges you wouldn't normally have access too.

Android's History

 

[RadioRaiders]

Thanks. Is there any guide anywhere on how to root? I don't mean install someone elses modified ROM, but how to make my own? ...and would I need to make it for a specific device, or could I make one ROM than ran on several devices (eg. HTC, Moto, Samsung, etc..)

 

[TelusMilestone]

Thanks. Is there any guide anywhere on how to root? I don't mean install someone elses modified ROM, but how to make my own? ...and would I need to make it for a specific device, or could I make one ROM than ran on several devices (eg. HTC, Moto, Samsung, etc..)

Indeed there is lots of guides on how to do it. Google is your friend

I'm still learning myself but I've taken several tweaks from other custom ROM's and applied them to my own Never loved my phone more. So fast so sleek ... so sexy!