diff -Naur spectrumctl/spectrum/spectrum.py spectrumctl/spectrum/spectrum.py
--- spectrumctl/spectrum/spectrum.py	2010-07-20 21:49:07.000000000 +0200
+++ spectrumctl/spectrum/spectrum.py	2010-07-21 01:23:18.000000000 +0200
@@ -125,11 +125,7 @@
 			# on windows, there is no real way to get the info that
 			# we need
 			return 0, "ok"
-		
-		# we must be root
-		if os.getuid() != 0:
-			raise RuntimeError( "User", "Must be root to start spectrum" )
-		
+
 		# check permissions for config-file:
 		env.check_ownership( self.config_path, 0 )
 		# we don't care about user permissions, group MUST be read-only