Algumas instalações
- Não é recomendado (mas não é aconselhável), mas você pode alterar esse nome.
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Nem sempre foi assim [ 1 ]
some early UNIX systems (particularly ones from CMU) called the user "avatar" - to designate the special state and try to dissuade people from logging in as it. In those same old days, since BSD systems used /bin/csh as the default root shell, sometimes you would see systems with the login sroot and kroot as a second & third line in the password file with /bin/sh and /bin/ksh as the default shell.
Simplesmente Torna-se o prevalecente.
Relaciona-se ao fato de que o usuário raiz é o único a ter a propriedade da pasta raiz ( / ) na qual reside todo o sistema de arquivos ( todos os outros arquivos e diretórios, incluindo seus subdiretórios e arquivos), então de facto como raiz de todos os poderes e privilégios, de todos os processos (lembre-se que init é a raiz dos processos e também é propriedade da raiz) e dos processos críticos, os daemons ...
É possível encontrar algum suporte mais sobre os estados do Linux Information Project em sua página raiz [ 2 ]
The use of the term root for the all-powerful administrative user may have arisen from the fact that root is the only account having write permissions (i.e., permission to modify files) in the root directory.
Tirando um pouco mais de texto da página raiz do The Linux Information Project [ 2 ]
root is the user name or account that by default has access to all commands and files on a Linux or other Unix-like operating system. It is also referred to as the root account, root user and the superuser.
...
Root privileges are the powers that the root account has on the system. The root account is the most privileged on the system and has absolute power over it (i.e., complete access to all files and commands). Among root's powers are the ability to modify the system in any way desired and to grant and revoke access permissions (i.e., the ability to read, modify and execute specific files and directories) for other users, including any of those that are by default reserved for root.
...
The use of the term root for the all-powerful administrative user may have arisen from the fact that root is the only account having write permissions (i.e., permission to modify files) in the root directory. The root directory, in turn, takes its name from the fact that the filesystems (i.e., the entire hierarchy of directories that is used to organize files) in Unix-like operating systems have been designed with a tree-like (although inverted) structure in which all directories branch off from a single directory that is analogous to the root of a tree.
...
(speaking about the Unix beginning)
It was also necessary to have a means for enabling a system administrator to perform such tasks as entering user directories and files to correct individual problems, granting and revoking powers for ordinary users, and accessing critical system files to repair or upgrade the system.
(Here it is implied the need of a hierarchy and a root point from which to start from.)
BTW parece que o nome God acabou de ser tirado e poderia provocar ressentimentos e protestos ...