On Wednesday 29 February 2012 15:20:19 James Knott wrote:
Kim Leyendecker wrote:
Then I'd go with creating a request on openFATE or discuss it on factory (afaik it is already). On the other hand, I've seen three threads about this issue so far, just wondering, would this also get so much attention if I would rant about this instead of Linus?
I was aware of this issue before I read his comments. I have provided computer support in the corporate world and cannot imagine why anyone would decide requiring root password for WiFi was a good idea.
I don't understand this issue - I've never been asked a password for WiFi on openSUSE... NetworkManager doesn't do that, afaik. Or is this a GNOME Shell issue?
In the corporate world, users do not generally get the root or admin password. This means they cannot take their notebook computer from work and use WiFi anywhere else, if that password is required. In the past couple of months, I have stayed at three hotels and used the hotel WiFi. If I needed admin password (the computer I was given runs Windows) to connect to the hotel's WiFi, I could not have had Internet access, which I required to do my work. This clearly illustrates why root password must not be mandatory. Make it optional if needed, but never manadatory. As for adding printers, how many people bring their work computers home and connect to their own printers? Again, with this insurance company project, I am expected to go to a site and connect to the local printer. How can I do that without the root (admin) password?
As I wrote before, the problem afaik was that the printer didn't have a driver installed. Installing drivers requires root password, installing a printer for which drivers are present does not. Afaik. I don't remember installing printers, I usually just connect the cable and the printer shows up in KDE application print dialogs...
I might allow time zone, as that can affect file access times, which can become a security issue. However, since Linux uses UTC (GMT) for file times, this issue only affects what the user sees on the computer and nothing else.
Changing the CLOCK TIMEZONE or the desktop timezone should not require a root password. It doesn't, in GNOME 2, XFCE, LXDE and KDE. In GNOME Shell 3.2 this was simply not implemented very well yet. Should be fixed in 3.4.