[rdiff-backup-users] Forgetting to run as root: how to recover quickly

[Bill Harris]

I've used rdiff-backup for years, and I'm mostly very happy with it.  There
is one problem that crops up occasionally; and I haven't found a way around
it yet.

AFAICT, rdiff-backup likes running as root.  On rare occasion, I forget and
start it as myself.  rdiff-backup complains, and, as I recall, offers to
sudo itself (I'm running Debian Stable, which is not normally set up as a
sudo system).

If I enter a password (and perhaps even if I don't) and then hit Ctrl-c
because I realize I messed up, I get the "it appears the last backup
failed" message, and then I'm in for a long (about a day), full backup
instead of the usual 15-45 minute incremental backup.

Is there a way to recover in such a situation so that I don't have to wait
for such a long backup to complete?  I presume rdiff-backup won't react
well to my changing files during the backup.

Is there a secure way to keep this from happening?  I could learn how
setuid works, but I think that's an insecure approach.

Thanks,

Bill