Re: [gdm-list] how to use authentication feature of GDM in a screen saver

[Ray Strode <halfline gmail com>]

Hi Jeff,

> Currently there are two cases we need to consider, one is the
> environment with display switching support and the other is that of
> without display switching, i.e remote display.
right.

> For the environment with display switching offered by VT, we can use the
> GDM framework which contains the 'factory mode'. But the greeter session
> is always running in a VT. For screen lock, it looks like there should
> be more unlock greeter sessions running at the same time for different
> user sessions. For example, if two user sessions are locked in one
> machine, two unlock greeter sessions with two VTs need running.
Why?  Doesn't it make more sense to just have the one factory greeter session?

> For the environment without display switching, it seems hard to use
> GdmSessionRelay interface since GdmSessionRelay does not provide DBus
> interfaces that can be used by the Unlock dialog. The DBus interfaces
> GdmSessionRelay exposed are used by GdmProductSlave, while not GUI
> applications like greeter.
Well you guys are talking about writing new code.  The fact that the
dbus interface isn't exposed in the way you need it doesn't matter.
It's just a little more new code.

Nothing is a perfect fit for what you want yet, because what you want
isn't implemented yet.

> If we can not use the GreeterServer interface, since the implementation
> of PAM backend is in gdm-session-worker, how about interacting directly
> with gdm-session-worker? Although gdm-session-worker does not provide
> DBus services, we can imitate what GdmSessionDirect has done in the
> screen unlock program.
Well I think the right way to interface with the gdm-session-worker,
is via the GdmSession GInterface.  Note GdmSessionDirect implements
that interface.  GdmSessionRelay does as well.  You could potentially
add new code that implements that interface, and that might be the
right answer.  I think that code would look a lot like GdmSessionRelay
though, so using GdmSessionRelay might be the right answer, too.  I
don't have all the answers here, because I haven't implemented it,
yet.  I might be wrong about certain things. I'm just telling you my
general intuition on things.

--Ray