[Pkg-utopia-maintainers] Bug#672138: prompts for root password on each new wifi network

[Joey Hess]

Package: network-manager-gnome
Version: 0.9.4.1-1
Severity: normal

Now nm wants the root password to be entered to ensure the user is allowed
to change the global system networking when connecting to a new wifi
network. Perhaps there are actual multiuser systems where this makes
sense, but on the typical laptop it means I have to train the user in a
second password.

This is really bad if using sudo. d-i can set up a system with sudo and
no root password (and with gksu configured to use sudo). nm still
prompts for a root password on such a system, which is impossible. I
have filed a separate bug on policykit about this problem.

FWIW, I am using xfce. I have not used gnome recently so don't know if
it somehow avoids this problem. I have xfce configured to run the gnome
password manager and other services, and I find lots of results
searching the web for "network manager root password", so my suspicion is
it does affect gnome. I have confirmed this behavior on two laptops,
one freshly installed.

The only GUI workaround I can find is to edit the connection, and
uncheck "Available to all users"[1]. But, this can only be done to
existing connections. So logging into a new wifi network without the
root password requires a very clumsy process of manually adding a
connection for it.

I found another workaround here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NetworkManager
Make /etc/polkit-1/localauthority/50-local.d/org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.pkla
containing:

[nm-applet]
Identity=unix-group:netdev
Action=org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.*
ResultAny=yes
ResultInactive=no
ResultActive=yes

Now all users in netdev (like default desktop user) are not asked for
the password.

-- System Information:
Debian Release: wheezy/sid
  APT prefers unstable
  APT policy: (500, 'unstable')
Architecture: i386 (i686)

Kernel: Linux 3.2.0-2-686-pae (SMP w/2 CPU cores)
Locale: LANG=en_US.utf8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.utf8 (charmap=UTF-8)
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash

Versions of packages network-manager-gnome depends on:
ii  dbus-x11             1.5.12-1
ii  dpkg                 1.16.2
ii  gconf-service        3.2.3-4
ii  gconf2               3.2.3-4
ii  gnome-icon-theme     3.4.0-2
ii  libatk1.0-0          2.4.0-2
ii  libc6                2.13-32
ii  libcairo-gobject2    1.12.0-2
ii  libcairo2            1.12.0-2
ii  libdbus-1-3          1.5.12-1
ii  libdbus-glib-1-2     0.98-1
ii  libfontconfig1       2.9.0-3
ii  libfreetype6         2.4.9-1
ii  libgconf-2-4         3.2.3-4
ii  libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0   2.26.1-1
ii  libglib2.0-0         2.32.2-1
ii  libgnome-bluetooth8  3.2.2-1
ii  libgnome-keyring0    3.4.1-1
ii  libgtk-3-0           3.4.1-2
ii  libnm-glib-vpn1      0.9.4.0-3
ii  libnm-glib4          0.9.4.0-3
ii  libnm-gtk0           0.9.4.1-1
ii  libnm-util2          0.9.4.0-3
ii  libnotify4           0.7.5-1
ii  libpango1.0-0        1.30.0-1
ii  network-manager      0.9.4.0-3
ii  policykit-1-gnome    0.105-2

Versions of packages network-manager-gnome recommends:
ii  gnome-bluetooth                        <none>
ii  iso-codes                              3.34-1
ii  libpam-gnome-keyring [libpam-keyring]  3.2.2-2
ii  mobile-broadband-provider-info         20120402-1
ii  xfce4-notifyd [notification-daemon]    0.2.2-1

Versions of packages network-manager-gnome suggests:
pn  network-manager-openvpn-gnome  0.9.4.0-1
pn  network-manager-pptp-gnome     <none>
pn  network-manager-vpnc-gnome     <none>

-- no debconf information

-- 
see shy jo

[1] Oddly, with the box unchecked, all users still seemed to be able to
    use that interface..
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