I'm presently running Mint 12 RC in virtualbox, as I'm looking for alternatives to ubuntu 11.10. I've been using ubuntu since Dapper or maybe earlier, so I'm used to being prompted for my password, when using update manager. It was therefore a bit of a surprise to find, that so far Mint hasn't demanded my password, when using Mint's password manager program.

I'm wondering if this method is normal for Mint installations. If it is, I assume not entering a password, must not be considered a security threat. Could someone explain the reasoning to me? I would have thought, not using the password would potentially give anyone with bad intentions and access a free shot at a Mint system. Cheers

updating is vital for secured sistem, that's why it's normal that password is not required.

Thanks for the reply Yooy. I do realize, that updating is vital. It seems though, that not requiring the password to install files, which modify the system, may lead to potential abuse by the more nefarious. Maybe I'm wrong in this.

Don't know if there was some kind of glitch in my Mint 12 RC instl'n, or if the password situation has been taken care of by an update. But I'm now being asked for a password, before checking for and installing updates. All good here. Solved.

It is normal for your credentials to be cached for a short time after authentication.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RootSudoTimeout

Not sure if this is related to what you are experiencing, but maybe.