Idea
#4347: gksudo if I try to do an action I don't have access to
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This idea was marked as being not considered for implementation the 25 June 08.
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Closed
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(807)
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Written by cope the 12 Mar 08 at 08:27.
Category: Accessibility.
Related to:
Nothing/Others.
Status: Won't implement
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Description
This should only apply if the logged in user has an entry in sudoers..
If I try to create a new folder, and I don't have access it should prompt me for my password (gksudo), and preform the action. This should occur for copy/paste, and all sorts of other functions that instead we have to drop to the shell..
I mainly 'sudo nautilus .' when I need to do this, but its a little clunky, don't you agree?
Tags:
(none)
Developer comments
To be honest, I really don't like this idea. The clear separation between "user data/permissions" and administration is a very strong point in Unix/Linux, and we should keep it. Providing a button for "give me a super-power nautilus" is too blunt, and subverts
(a) our efforts to provide the necessary administrative bits through appropriate UI (like NetworkManager),
(b) our efforts to provide more fine-grained privileges (PolicyKit) and eventually get rid of gksu, and
(c) leads into the Administrator madness Windows users have to endure.
I'd rather collect use cases why users need to run nautilus as root in the first place, and eliminate those.
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Comments
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XVIIarcano wrote on the 12 Mar 08 at 09:53
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Absolutely agree... I never tought of "sudo nautilus" though... I yust always uttered some profanity and reverted to the CLI... how dumb of me!
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bikeboy wrote on the 12 Mar 08 at 10:46
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Look for this feature in Hardy +1, as a result of the improvements that are currently being built into Gnome (gvfs). It will supposedly be possible then.
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mmcmonster wrote on the 12 Mar 08 at 12:04
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Also, if users are not in sudoers group, it should ask for an administrator username & password (This is how Apple OS X works.).
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amiga_os wrote on the 12 Mar 08 at 13:38
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This is especially extremely irritating if you try and empty the Deleted items folder, only to find a file or folder in there that requires sudo access...
And it's a major faff to then sudo nautilus, turn on hidden files and folders, go to the .Trash, then delete your file.
The problem also happens if you try and remove a connected disk with something in the .Trash that's not yours.
A gksudo box, then performing the action, would be a sensible way around a number of problems like this.
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browny_amiga wrote on the 13 Mar 08 at 01:06
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Great idea! That is the Ubuntu (and Linux) spirit!
Innovation now happens in opensource, not like the old times in proprietary stuff.
+1
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youngsaint wrote on the 13 Mar 08 at 03:15
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I've torched my system using gksu nautilus! :p
+1
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garyedwardjohnston wrote on the 14 Apr 08 at 13:55
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This is a big one for me.
When I want to do something I should be able to. If there are security issues then simply asking for a password is way better than having a user research the net to figure out how to do it.
Put in warnings if necessary, but the ability should be there as well.
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deejross wrote on the 26 Jun 08 at 13:21
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In response to the Developer's comments on use cases...here's mine:
I don't know much about how PolicyKit works, so if this comment recommends something that PolicyKit will fix, then you can ignore it.
If you need to edit a config file outside of the /home directory, normal users browse to the file and open it, only to find it's read-only. So now they only have two options, open a terminal and, for example, type "gksudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf". The other option is to open nautilus using gksudo.
Another case, which follows the same guidelines is setting permissions on files, for example if you run a web server, you have to set the permissions on the /var/www directory to make sure your user has write access if you plan on doing web development.
Bottom line is, it's cumbersome to find the file you want to edit, only to find you need root privileges and have to retrace your steps once you've gotten those privileges.
If PolicyKit fixes this, I'd be totally happy. But this is one of those things that prevents people from moving from a less-restrictive operating system (albeit, insecure). There has to be a way to do this safely and securely, without requiring the user to open a terminal or jump through hoops.
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_alex_ wrote on the 28 Jun 08 at 03:51
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I'd like to second everything deejross said. In fact any time I try to do something that requires super user privileges a dialog along the lines of "You need administrative privileges to perform this task. Pleas enter your password:" should pop up. I don't see how this would be at all related to the "administrator madness in vista". The fact is if I need super user privileges to do something then well I need them, and not showing the gksudo type dialog is not "fixing" the "administrator madness", it's just making things more cumbersome for me (as deejross adequately explained).
You can collect use cases as much as you want, but the fact remains that there will always be cases when you need to switch to administrative privileges, and whenever that time comes, a gksudo type dialog should be displayed right there and then. This is how OS X does it, and how Vista does it, and they did it for a reason (i.e., their own use cases), so why should it be different for us?
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scuba wrote on the 26 Aug 08 at 18:23
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As deejross and _alex_ has pointed out, if you need the privileges for something it is hassle to need the console to fix something that is better done graphically in an user environment.
Having an easy way of becoming superuser
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Open terminal browse, type sudo package /path/to/item/can/be/very/frustrating/sometimes
Which one should Ubuntu as user friendly environment go for?
If I'm not mistaken, PolicyKit only fixes the problem if the developers use it. In the mix between all the Linux platforms that would mean a lot of hassle and poorly implemented software.
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