root and admin difference

edit

Pretty much the same.

This has something to do with sudo program which is installed by default in most distributions.

Here is a difference.

When you are an admin in the system, you can use sudo to gain root privileges, or/and your user password can be used for some actions that need root privileges. When you are connected as root, you are root. You don't need any extra program like sudo to gain extra privileges. You have them already.

Some distributions have root account disabled by default and sudo program pre-configured for the initial user (who perform the installation). So the initial user is an administrator by default.

Fedora does not do this.

Fedora has root user(account) enabled and you have the option to use sudo program (or not) during the installation (there is a box you can tick and make the initial user, who is performing the installation, an administrator).

If you forgot the root user password but you are an admin in the system, you can easily change(reset) the root user password using a terminal.

sudo passwd root

it will ask for your user password and then it will ask for the new root password (twice).

Example:

[username@fedora22 ~]$ sudo passwd root
[sudo] password for username: 
Changing password for user root.
New password: 
Retype new password: 
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.