Key Points#

su

The su command is for switching to another user. This is useful if you need to run a lot of commands or manage a lot of files as that user.

Using su is a bit dated and most operations should be done via sudo, but su can still be used form time to time.

sudo

The sudo command can also be used to switch to a user, but it's primarily function is to switch to the user, complete a task, and then "exit" that user session.

The benefits of sudo is the ability to control what the user can do on a granular level. The su just an all-in command: you simply become the user and can do anything that user can do. With sudo, you can control that down to specific commands.