Both su and sudo elevate privileges assigned to the current user.

The main difference between the two is that su requires the password of the target account, while sudo requires the password of the current user. Therefore, it is much safer to use sudo since it doesn't include exchanging sensitive information.

Additionally, it is advisable to stick to sudo when performing tasks that require root privileges. By doing so, the current user is only granted privileged for the specified command. On the other hand, su switches to the root user completely, exposing the entire system to potential accidental modification.

How to use the su command

The su command stands for substitute user, and it is mostly used for switching from one user to another. It does this by starting a login shell in the current directory and environment (su) or by completely changing to the setting of the target usr (su -).

The main syntax is:

su [user_name]

or

su - [user_name]

If the command is used without the argument, it switches to the superuser (root) account.