Re: Nautilus integration with SELinux

[Alexander Larsson <alexl redhat com>]

On Tue, 2006-02-28 at 11:20 -0500, Ivan Gyurdiev wrote:
> > There has been some discussions recently on totally changing the
> > permissions tab UI. See the mailing list. I think this makes sense, as
> > the current UI really isn't that great. As part of that we'll probably
> > have some sort of "advanced" permissions dialog (or page/whatever),
> > where selinux widgets would probably fit better.
> >   
> I'm not sure that's a good idea. 
> On a SELinux enabled system, such SElinux widgets are critical to what 
> can and cannot be done to the system. I don't see a justification to 
> leave the Unix DAC controls exposed, but hide the SELinux MAC controls 
> in an "Advanced" page.

If you read the referenced discussion you'd see that even much of the
traditional Unix permissions details would be on the advanced page.

> I think we want the users to be aware of SELinux and proactively manage 
> it. It would be nice if SELinux would auto-manage itself, without the 
> user needing to do anything, but it just doesn't work that way - it's 
> another permissions system, which does the right thing most of the time, 
> but needs oversight to do the right thing all the time.

I'm pretty sure most desktop users would never want to touch SELinux
settings (and I'd say the same of e.g. the setuid bit and the full unix
permission set). If they have to its probably because it "broke" in some
interesting way, and not because they had a wish to use it. 

Putting something like selinux, that even many developers think is
overcomplicated black magic, in the main easy-to-use permissions UI
seems like a very poor choice.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Alexander Larsson                                            Red Hat, Inc 
                   alexl redhat com    alla lysator liu se 
He's a globe-trotting Amish sorceror haunted by an iconic dead American 
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