RE: Gnome SuperUser

["Dan Mann" <daniel_b_mann hotmail com>]

I tell you what I would like, is the ability to run a nautilus window as
root so I can move files back and forth from protected areas like my
wife's home directory and my home directory without having to open a
terminal, su, than do the copy.  It's really nice when moving things
like wallpaper that my wife might like when you have thumbnails to see
what you are moving.  I even put certain semi important files in a
separate directory from my normal files, and then remove all access so
that I don't ever accidentally delete them.  If I do this as root, then
I have to go back in with a terminal and change permissions.  And I like
the way nautilus handles permissions with a click (I never remember the
commands and I always end up doing chmod --help (oh listen to me cry,
why when my pappy used to change file permissions he had to do it on a
system that's cpu usage was spiked at 100% and was running with 4k, and
he had to use a hex editor manually on the disk.  I've got it so easy).

Anyway, I guess my point is that I find these types of situations happen
fairly frequently, and being able to do these things from the gui would
be nice for me anyhow.

I can't live on windows anymore without the runas command.  Heck, even
my dad now has a separate "supervisor" account that can install
programs.  That way if something does get run accidentally when he is
logged in as a regular user, system files don't go by by.

My .02,

PS - I like the gtk sidebar in redhat phoebe, it looks nice.

dan

> -----Original Message-----
> From: desktop-devel-list-admin gnome org 
> [mailto:desktop-devel-list-admin gnome org] On Behalf Of 
> Bastien Nocera
> Sent: Friday, January 10, 2003 10:38 AM
> To: MArk Finlay
> Cc: desktop-devel-list gnome org
> Subject: Re: Gnome SuperUser
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> We already talked about that when I ported gnome-sudo to 2.0 and we
> pretty much agreed that it was a better idea to depend on pam and
> consolehelper rather than on "su-like" programs.
> 
> Read this thread:
> http://mail.gnome.org/archives/desktop-devel-list/2002-August/
> msg00256.html
> 
> On Fri, 2003-01-10 at 15:22, MArk Finlay wrote:
> > There has been some disussion in the past about having a 
> kdesu[1] style
> > program for Gnome. Every now and then someone comes along 
> and says that
> > they are going to program one. There has been gnomesu, gsu, 
> gtksu, xsu
> > and an attempted port of kdesu to gnome[2].
> > 
> > None of the above projects are being actively maintained and some of
> > them cannot even be found online anymore. I know that a lot of users
> > want a (gooey)way to run programs as root easily and I had 
> some time to
> 
> If you want gooey ways, try to pour a jam jar on your keyboard, or a
> bottle of Coke... Worked for me.
> 
> > spare so I started looking around for some code to use.
> > 
> > A week and a half later i bring you Gnome SuperUser: 
> http://xsu.sf.net
> > As the url implies it is based on xsu and at the moment I 
> am using xsu's
> > cvs and sf resources for it's development(thanks to xsu's 
> author: Philip
> > Van Hoof). I found xsu to be unintuitive and excessively 
> complicated for
> > what it does so i have simplified it and improved the ui. 
> You can find
> > instructions for checking out the code from sf cvs, and a 
> screenshot on
> > the site.
> > 
> > I know that there are a lot of problems with running gtk 
> apps as root
> > and that it may never be possible to include this sort of 
> program in the
> > core gnome desktop, but I'd like to think that it has a 
> home somewhere
> > in the Gnome Software collection, maybe in the fifth toe or hackers'
> > toys?
> > 
> > Anyway, my plans for this tool are to finish off it's UI 
> and behavior
> > and to try and make it as secure as is possible. I'd love if I could
> > continue to hack on it using gnome cvs and bugzilla where it could
> > receive scrutiny from better hackers than myself, and maybe 
> some i18n
> > love etc..
> > 
> > Also I would like to hear from people on this list the 
> resons why a gsu
> > program is not wanted in the gnome desktop so that maybe I 
> can do some
> > research and see if the situation can be improved.
> > 
> > 
> > [1]In case you've never used it it is a little kde program 
> that you run
> > with the syntax 'kdesu <command>'. It then asks you your 
> root password
> > ans runs the command as root.
> > [2]There is also some code in the gnome-system-tools but 
> currently this
> > is only used to run those tools as root.
> 
> Cheers
> 
> -- 
> /Bastien Nocera
> http://hadess.net
> 
> #2  0x4205a2cc in printf ("Oh my %s\n", preferred_deity) from
> /lib/i686/libc.so.6 printf ("Oh my %s\n", preferred_deity);
> Segmentation fault
> 
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