Why doesn't `sudo cd /var/named` work?

Question:

I want to cd into /var/named but it gives me a permission denied error, and when I want to use sudo to do this I am not permitted. What is the technical reason for this, and is it possible to do this some other way?

Answer:

The reason you can't do this is simple and two fold

1

cd is not a program but an in-built command and sudo only applies to programs.

sudo foo means run the program foo as root

sudo cd /path returns

sudo: cd: command not found

because cd is not a program.

2

If it were possible to use sudo to cd to a protected directory then having run the command sudo cd /var/named you would be in that directory as a normal user but normal users are not allowed to be in that directory.

This is not possible.

Workaround:

You can use sudo -i to elevate yourself to super user. For example:

sudo -i
cd /var/named 

You are now logged on as root and can use whatever commands you wish. When finished type exit and you are back to being logged on as a normal user.