Re: package managers problem
On Tue, 20 Jun 2023 17:03:24 -0400
Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org> wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 20, 2023 at 04:56:39PM -0400, paulf@quillandmouse.com
> wrote:
> > Apparently the broader dictum is "never run GUI apps as root". Why?
> > What's special about GUI apps versus those you run in a terminal?
>
> The extreme example is a web browser. Your typical web browser
> probably has thousands of bugs in it.
>
> GUI apps are big and complicated. Running them with elevated
> privileges is just asking for problems.
>
So this isn't anything specific, but a general concern for what GUI
apps may be doing behind your back, because they are so complex.
> In a sensible design, the GUI part would run as you, and it would send
> requests to a daemon that runs as root, or simply issue shell commands
> with "sudo" or something, to do the parts that need extra privs.
>
I infer that Synaptic, by requiring root privileges to be truly useful,
is mis-designed, since there isn't a daemon executing root level
commands in the background.
Paul
--
Paul M. Foster
Personal Blog: http://noferblatz.com
Company Site: http://quillandmouse.com
Software Projects: https://gitlab.com/paulmfoster
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