Re: How come GNOME is hard to install.

[Martin Kasper Petersen <mkp socsci auc dk>]

>>>>> "Mike" == Mike Bond <mike.bond@template.com> writes:

Mike> Are we seriously going to require yet another user/group just to
Mike> use gdm? Why? 

Because the gdmgreeter is linked to several unaudited libraries. And
you really don't want a program with root priviledges snooping around
and reading files in user directories. Or accepting arbitrary input
from users at the login prompt.

Initially gdmgreeter ran as nobody because this user exists on most
systems. However, access to the X server is controlled using cookie
files and gdmgreeter (and only gdmgreeter) needs to be able to read
these to open its window. Hence the requirement for a dedicated user.


Mike> It is one thing to allow a sysadmin to do that, another entirely
Mike> to require it.

I decided to enforce it because 99% of the users will end up having
security disasters on their desks otherwise.

-- 
Martin Kasper Petersen			BOFH, IC1&2, Aalborg University, DK
mailto:mkp@SunSITE.auc.dk		http://www.socsci.auc.dk/~mkp/