Re: [gentoo-user] Re: not switching to elogind - but where's consolekit?

[Walter Dnes]

On Wed, Sep 02, 2020 at 09:42:40AM +0200, n952162 wrote

> I guess polkit is being newly pulled in and then forcing me to choose a
> multi-seat configuration?
>
> There are tons of things that are dependent on polkit, most of which I
> don't have, like systemd. The right way to solve this is to go through
> each one and find out if/why it's suddenly appearing and whether I need
> it or not? For example, I might have to add a new USE flag to disable
> a new functionality that I didn't want in the first place to prevent a
> total re-sculpting of my system?
>
> Or, I'm ignorant of some basic, simplifying fact ...

  The root of the problem is all the Redhat employees in the linux
ecosystem.  They're not operating out of malice, but rather they're only
concerned about tuning linux to optimize it for corporate enterprise
customers.  No thought is given to single-seat home users like most of
this mailing list.  The best anology is that you want a Ford Ranger 1/2
ton pickup with automatic transmission.  But corporate wants an
18-wheeler semi-tractor plus trailer where you have to learn how to
operate an umpteen-speed manual transmission.  As per the news item...
https://www.gentoo.org/support/news-items/2020-06-24-xorg-server-dropping-default-suid.html
...there have been a couple of changes

* xorg default has changed to USE="-suid"
* USE="elogind" or some other "?logind" has been added to your defaults

  I've decided to retain the old setup. To do so

* add the "suid" flag to x11-base/xorg-server in package.use
* add "-elogind" to USE in make.conf

  The deciding factor for me is that elogind pulls in PAM.  PAM is to
me what HAL is to Dale.  Basically "everything you know is wrong".  PAM
imposes its own config files, and anything you read on man pages for a
service may not apply when PAM controls access to that service.  You need
to set up separate config files, and put users into specific groups, etc.
99% of Google searches will turn up answers that do not apply to your
situation.  Again, this is not malice on the part of Redhat employees.
It's that they're setting up things for a central server with hundreds
of users in a corporate environment, and they need to protect against
potentially hostile or dumb users.

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes@××××××××.org>
I don't run "desktop environments"; I run useful applications