Re: Proposed modules: my consensus so far

[Mark McLoughlin <markmc redhat com>]

Hi Beno�

On Fri, 2004-11-26 at 15:16 +0000, Beno�Dejean wrote:
> Le vendredi 26 novembre 2004 �5:52 +0100, Murray Cumming a �it :
> > 
> > Given that it's still being intensively discussed, that would probably be
> > premature.  If the discussion comes to a stop then you might want to
> > summarise the discussion and then say why, on the basis of that, it's
> > still a good idea to go ahead.
> 
> Current gnome-system-monitor askpass is :
> - dirty
> - unsecured
> - not portable (Linux only)
> 
> I'd like to fix this as soon as possible.

	If you feel the feature is insecure and poorly implemented, one
immediate option you have is just to disable it ...

> So libgnomesu may be reworked, extented ..., but right now, it's the
> best solution i have.

	In the discussion with Hongli, I said:

  ... worries me because it leaks some admin-tool functionality into a
  user tool which I think is likely to be frustrating and confusing for
  users who *don't* have root. It also isn't optimal for users who *do*
  have root - having to type the root password for every process you
  want to kill isn't fun.

	I'm not sure how you feel about that because you didn't respond, but I
think it would be worthwhile to step back and think about it for a
moment.

	The two features that require root in procman is "Change Priority" and
"Kill Process", right? If someone who does have root uses
gnome-system-monitor for either of these tasks, they're not going to
enjoy typing the root password every time. If someone who doesn't have
root tries to use either of these features and are then told they're not
allowed too, I think they will be irritated by the unpredictability of
tool - "if I'm not allowed do this, why did you put the button there?".

	Personally, I think it would be a lot more sensible for procman to have
an "admin mode" and a "user mode". If run in "admin mode", e.g. as root,
then "Change Priority", "Kill Process" would be in the menu and in admin
mode it wouldn't.

> > But that's just my opinion. You are the maintainer.
> 
> if this means that i'm free to use it or not, i'm going to commit
> Hongli's patch tonight. Thanks

	The way things work currently is that maintainers are free to add
dependancies and new modules like this. But I think that's under the
assumption that the maintainer does so in co-ordination with the rest of
the project - i.e. that there's a general consensus that is a good idea,
doesn't conflict with anything else etc. I don't think its valid for a
maintainer to add a module/dependancy while ignoring ongoing
discussion/disagreement about whether its a good idea.

Cheers,
Mark.