Can't run gui applications as root

mr_a_ali · 08-16-2004, 06:46 AM

Will I have to do this every time I want to run WINE? Or will it be permanent?

mhearn · 08-16-2004, 07:41 AM

You need to use a better distro or report a bug against SuSE. The correct way for this to work is for it to be transparent and automatic like on fedora, using pam_xauth.

Alternatively use a program called "sux".

Finally there's no need to run wine as root

g4c9z · 08-16-2004, 10:29 AM

Quote:

ssh would be the safest easy way.
If the machine is multiuser people could
play tricks on you by opening stuff in
your session if you have xhost +local
(or localhost, for that matter) enabled.

My machine is not mulituser. Furthermore, since only users using the current computer are allowed to open windows (since it's xhost +local), how could people play tricks on you?

I would rather avoid ssh because then there would have to be an extra process in memory using resources (even if it's a small amount). Furthermore, I have no need to log into my computer remotely so I can be more sure it's secure if sshd isn't even running.

g4c9z · 08-16-2004, 04:40 PM

Quote:

xhost really is a kludge.

Do you mean the code is badly written and the program is buggy, or that the very nature of the program (controlling access of who can control your own X Windows session) is a bad idea and unnecessary?

Tinkster · 08-17-2004, 02:47 PM

The latter :)

I'm a security fanatic, call me professional paranoid ;)

Cheers,
Tink

mhearn · 08-19-2004, 01:11 PM

xhost is unnecessary on incorrectly set up distributions, so it's kind of a hack. But this is the problem with having so many distros ....

g4c9z · 08-19-2004, 02:32 PM

Quote:

xhost is unnecessary on incorrectly set up distributions

Did you mean "on correctly set up distributions"?

mhearn · 08-19-2004, 03:21 PM

oops, yes, must be tired

forgox · 08-19-2004, 07:06 PM

Hi,
Trying "xhost +local:" on user shell works well when running as root in root shell after using "su". Launching X application works well.

On Debian Testing, it seems that when using "su -" to have a root shell to really run as root using root's environment setup (.cshrc etc.) launching X application don't work. "xhost +local:" seems useless. Shutting down the firewall, setting DISPLAY=:0.0 in root shell, doing xhost - (from the user account) doesn't help. It seems that on RedHat it's working fine!

Is there a trick to be able to run X application when doing "su -"?

thanks

g4c9z · 08-19-2004, 07:18 PM

Interesting - using "su -" then opening GUI programs works the same for me as using plain "su". Maybe you should submit a bug report to Debian.

forgox · 08-19-2004, 07:42 PM

Hi,
This might is probably not a Debian bug but rather something that a root script does when invoking "su -" .

g4c9z · 08-19-2004, 08:24 PM

Yeah - maybe it's changing $DISPLAY.