this post was submitted on 20 Nov 2024
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 1 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

but that's where it becomes more serious: when basic functions of the system fail, silently. when you can't even reboot without a terminal, because the reboot dialog crashes

[–] muhyb@programming.dev 1 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago) (1 children)

It actually doesn't crash, it just cannot show the requirement of the root password in a dialog. I think this can be fixed via lengthen the timeout of polkit. Though I can understand why most distros don't change the default time because of security reasons. It would be nice if they give an option for it, at least for personal use cases. However, completely removing that timeout would be a security problem, even if the only user is you.

[–] ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org 1 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

requirement of the root password? why would it need that, when it normally doesn't? to clarify, I didn't mean the "sudo reboot" command, but the reboot button in the KDE application launcher

[–] muhyb@programming.dev 1 points 3 weeks ago

systemd always requires root password for poweroff and reboot commands and polkit does that for you normally when using GUI. However that problem occurs when polkit timeout runs out. I don't know the exact mechanism behind it so I cannot tell exactly when it happens. When it doesn't do that, those commands don't run via a GUI. So this is on part systemd and part the distro.