GnoRPM feature and Re: Gnome su

[Federico David Sacerdoti <fds offm62 wuh wustl edu>]

In the same vein as the comment below I have a suggestion for gnorpm.
Would it be possible to prompt the user for the root password when they
attempt to install an rpm package as a normal user.

One use case would be the following. A user right-clicks an RPM icon in
gmc and selects "install this RPM". A dialog pops up prompting the user
for the root password for the install. If the password is correct, the
install is performed and the user is notified of the result.

I believe PAM could be used for the authentication. The benefit would be
that a normal user could quickly manipulate packages without bringing up a
terminal.

-FDS

On Wed, 21 Apr 1999, Vincent Harvey wrote:

> I while ago I mentioned possibly making a modification to gnome-run so
> users could run certain apps (like gnorpm and gmc) as root, after
> giving a password. I just now noticed that in the CVS server, there
> has been a program called gsu, in gnome-utils/mini-utils.
> 
> It currently is not secure (at least it hasn't been audited), though
> as it is now, maybe a few finishing touches could be made, so it could
> be usable for a single user, or in someone's home. I would recommend
> seperating this package from gnome-utils, as a utility for those
> willing to take the security risk. Maybe it could install *.desktop
> files for programs like gshutdown and gmc (this also assumes gmc can
> open a single window without making desktop icons).
> 
> 	--------------
> 	Vincent Harvey
> 	http://www.mcs.net/~vharvey (don't go here now, still problems)
> 
> 
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