On 4/24/19 9:38 PM, badshah400@gmail.com wrote:
Hi Stasiek,
On Tue, 2019-04-23 at 15:18 +0200, Stasiek Michalski wrote:
Hi,
I made a patch for YaST CC which enables it to run without root permissions, and starts separate modules as root instead (when it needs them with root permissions) [1], however I'm not sure how you might feel about this.
It requires more password entering if opened without root, which might prove to be annoying.
Short story: +1 from my side.
Short story: I agree with badshah400, +1 from my side.
Longer justification: In my opinion, the root password prompt should deferred for as long as possible and be asked of the user only (but always!) when applying changes to the root configuration.
Fully agreed
For example, a non-admin user should still be able to open up YaST's software management module to view the list of available and installed packages and patterns on their system; however, only if they choose to make modifications to this list, e.g. add or remove some packages and hit "OK", that is when the root password prompt should pop up.
Just a note here. In some cases, asking the password only at the end (when writing configuration) would make sense. But in general is not that simple. YaST is an interactive tool and, as such, it performs several tasks that would need root permission in several points of the user interaction. E.g. installing some package that is required to continue, reading some protected configuration, adjusting the firewall to be able to explore the network, starting or stopping a service, refreshing the list of repos...
With the current YaST CC (e.g. in Tumbleweed) this is certainly not the case. Indeed, it is kind of weird that I can simply use zypper to see the list of installed packages on my system without using the root password, but the first thing I have to do when launching YaST's SW management module is to key in the root password. I understand that your patch doesn't fix this entirely right now (but you were probably hinting at something like this at the end when mentioning Polkit integration, right?); I am simply putting my idea of "ideal behaviour" out here.
As explained above, that "ideal behavior" may not by so ideal. As YaST is conceived right now, the win would be marginal. In 99% cases it would end up asking for the root password very soon. Certainly before the user clicks "Ok" or "Finish" and certainly in a less consistent way.
It also potentially aids security in the sense that if an admin absent- mindedly leaves the main control-centre open on a user's desktop session
Fully agreed.
Since no actual changes can be made to the system directly from the YaST CC window -- which is but only a launcher for individual YaST modules, I see no reason why the root password should be required when launching the CC itself.
Fully agreed. -- Ancor González Sosa YaST Team at SUSE Linux GmbH -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-factory+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse-factory+owner@opensuse.org