Should i root my droid?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1231
^^
This will be your one stop shop for all things related to your phone, not just root. The section you will be interested in for write-ups will be the "Triumph Android Development" forum.

Just because you want root doesn't mean you have to install a custom ROM. That's the next step if you choose to take it, and ROMs can be as vanilla as a bloatware-free stock setup, or a completely different look from stock (MIUI, CM7, etc). I would get rooted first, and if you want to install a different ROM down the line you will be ready to do so. But it's not required.

This link may be what you need for just getting rooted. But explore yourself before trying anything!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1258627

 

mentose's link looks pretty good as well

 

I would say go for the root. With a custom ROM you will no longer be able to use OTA updates. With custom ROMs you will already be ahead of the curve though...

 

oh okay then yeah they have that. i think its called sideloading. i know on verizon phones you dont need it so you might not need it either i think att might be the only company that needs it.

 

Root makes sense. Knowledge is a Google search away.

 

What he said

 

Thanks for all the info i just rooted it a couple mins ago, now im just debating on what apps to get and if theres any other good roms besides Cyanogen, which doesnt seem to be fully developed and released for my phone yet

 

I would stick with something stock for now, they make stock roms that are de-bloated and deodexed, you will probably have the greatest satisfaction with those until you decide to play around with the highly custom roms.

Personally I think CM7 and the other development roms look like absolute garbage for the most part. Yes they give you the power to give your phone a custom look, but the graphics and interfaces that are made by the manufacturer are far more polished than most of the hard core custom stuff available. I have an HTC though, which tends to be better in stock form than a Moto, so YMMV

 

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Good apps to get (all free)

Titanium Backup
ROM Manager
Seekdroid (if you lose/misplace your phone it's useful)
Wifi tether (Hard to find, google it)
Dolphin browser
QuickPic for pictures
Amazon appstore (has a daily free app, some are really good)
ES file explorer
ShootMe (screenshot)
Mobo player (best video player I've found, similar to VLC on PCs)

 

Actually, android is the Google software. Droid is a phone by Motorola.

 

Android is a Linux based system. "Rooting" gives access to the superuser (or root) account. It allows you to change things or install software that you couldn't do with a standard user account. Think of root as the administrator account on a computer. The administrator can do things that the user can't.

 

so ive got the bases of this down thanks to some good advice from yall, xda, and youtube. but with the roms, if/ when i decide to get that up, what exactly does it do? just customization of how everything looks or is there more

 

looks like ill be waiting then as far as i can find, theres not a miui rom out yet for this phone the only rom i can find is a CM7 rom that isnt fully developed so i cant use about half the things on the phone