For the past few years I have been helping out in #ubuntu and #kubuntu on the Freenode network. Sitting in these channels I have seen many things and helped solve many problems. I have an idea that I feel would be of great help in assisting users in solving certain problems.

When installing or upgrading Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu, the installer, perhaps as a final step, should make backups (maybe call them "masters") of critical files such as /etc/X11/xorg.conf and /etc/sudoers. Then, if a new user happens to destroy them, it's a simple matter of getting into the file system, say with a livecd, or single user, and copying the "master" back to its original location - overwriting the errant or missing file. These "master" files could even be buried somewhere the user wouldn't normally go. The installer could even "chattr +i" (immutable) the master files so that they can't be deleted using sudo - maybe even with a special file extension that sudo can't delete. A system might be put into place, say with cron, to overwrite the master with an updated copy of a known-good version - in case sudoers is updated. Maybe this could be done with some kind of file change detection but immediately replacing the master would defeat the whole purpose if a new user were to lock him/her self out of sudoers.

Possible candidates for the "master" category:
/boot/grub/menu.lst
/etc/apt/sources.list
/etc/fstab
/etc/sudoers
/etc/X11/xorg.conf

I feel that this would go a long way in assisting people in solving problems related to critical files.

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