What is the purpose of the 'sudo' command?

The purpose of the 'sudo' command is to execute commands with superuser privileges. This command allows a permitted user to run specific commands as the superuser (root) or another user, as specified by the security policy in the /etc/sudoers file. Using 'sudo' is essential for performing administrative tasks that require elevated privileges, such as installing software, modifying system configurations, or managing system services, while maintaining a level of security by avoiding the need to log in as the root user directly. This helps to minimize the risk of accidental changes to critical system components and provides a way to track what actions are performed with elevated privileges.

Creating new user accounts and editing or deleting files can be done with other commands, but they can require 'sudo' to ensure the user has the necessary permissions to perform those actions. Therefore, the core functionality of 'sudo' is centered around privilege escalation.