Try to run the application through strace, and check for any permission denied errors, maybe... not sure if that will work, but it's worth trying.
Of course it won't instantly blow up your computer if you run dolphin as root ;P
In Windows XP, every application runs as root, and the users of that OS are still alive. However, this is a rough workaround which comes with a number of problems; at the very least, you'll have to enter your password every time and a different widget style will be used to display UI elements. Save games and configuration files are not written into your home directory, but to ~root (usually /root) which is very inconvenient (as you'll need the root password to even read them). Also, if the application misbehaves (which is, granted, unlikely) it might (theoretically) screw up some system files (overwrite global configuration files, ...).
In other words, yes, in most cases it'll just work, but don't run applications as root if you can avoid it in any way.
Of course it won't instantly blow up your computer if you run dolphin as root ;P
In Windows XP, every application runs as root, and the users of that OS are still alive. However, this is a rough workaround which comes with a number of problems; at the very least, you'll have to enter your password every time and a different widget style will be used to display UI elements. Save games and configuration files are not written into your home directory, but to ~root (usually /root) which is very inconvenient (as you'll need the root password to even read them). Also, if the application misbehaves (which is, granted, unlikely) it might (theoretically) screw up some system files (overwrite global configuration files, ...).
In other words, yes, in most cases it'll just work, but don't run applications as root if you can avoid it in any way.