Arch Linux

DonVla

Member

From: Bonn, Germany

Registered: 2007-06-07

Posts: 997

gtkpacman as root?

i gave gtkpacman a try and it looks really promising. but why is it necessary to run it as root???
this is only needed for installing and removing packages and upgrading the database.
when starting, there is this message that i have to start the application as root to do stuff.
this is not true: i have to be root to install or remove stuff, but i do not have to start the application itself as root to do so.
imo, there is a strict separation between the gui and the underlying install/remove mechanism.
so the root (or if using sudo the user's) password is needed only when the three actions mentionend above are actually performed.
as i said it looks promising, but so far i think it's not really trustworthy.

vlad

btw: sudo is also a possible option.

arooaroo

Member

From: London, UK

Registered: 2005-01-13

Posts: 1,268

Website

Re: gtkpacman as root?

I hear what you're saying and it makes a lot of sense. But I guess it's just about where the developer's priorities lie when making the software. I'm not even sure if gtkpacman is maintained any more.

Speaking for myself, as the dev of Jacman, I know that you start off with something that covers the basics. It may mean you cut several corners, but hey, it's just a 0.1 right?! And then slowly you add more and more refinements. Jacman doesn't need root rights to browse the packages, but you will not get very far once you try and install/remove packages if you weren't root when you started the application. It's just a lot of hassle doing all that sudoing and so that was one of the corners I cut - I wanted to add other features which were a higher priority for me. And I dare say for similar reasons the dev of gtkpacman came across similar issues.

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arooaroo | Jacman (Pacman GUI) | Getting to Grips with LaTeX | flickr

ibendiben

Member

Registered: 2007-10-10

Posts: 519

Re: gtkpacman as root?

A agree with you... and it shouldn't be too hard to implement. For future you might want to post your comments/requests here though:
http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=14655
I imagine the author subscribed to that topic and thus, is more likely to answer you.

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Why schools kill creativity | Once upon a school