Re: GNOME System Monitor will use libgnomesu

[Jeff Waugh <jdub perkypants org>]

<quote who="Mark McLoughlin">

> On Sun, 2005-01-09 at 12:33 +0000, Mike Hearn wrote:
> > On Sun, 09 Jan 2005 11:43:58 +0000, Mark McLoughlin wrote:
> > >    - I worry that the addition libgnomesu-like API to the desktop will
> > >      lead to the UI being littered (in unpredictable places) with root
> > >      password dialogs e.g.
> > > 
> > >        - "Open as root" in Nautilus context menus - "Run as root" in the
> > >        run dialog
> > >        - Random features in apps asking for root like the "renice" and
> > >          "kill" features in gnome-system-monitor
> > > 
> > >      What a horrible thought.
> > 
> > Well ... why is this horrible? I don't see how that would be any less
> > predictable than "this app needs to be/can be run as root" dialogs popping
> > up all over the place especially as given that type of dialog you have no
> > way to know whether you'll actually need the root password or not for the
> > particular task you have in mind.
> 
> 	I'm thinking along the lines of everything in the "System Tools" menu
> needing the root password, and nothing else.

We've been intending to get away from that distinction for some time now,
with the stop-start discussions about a top-down redesign of the control
center (and hopefully, g-s-t and other system configuration) dialogues. I
agree with Mike's points about the OS X model - it secures things that need
to be secure, but doesn't mess up the mental model by making a difficult to
understand distinction between "user preference" and "system configuration".

We're stuck with it for now, but let's not be caught up in it forever. :-)

- Jeff

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