Fedora 12 and unprivileged package installation [LWN.net]

Fedora 12 and unprivileged package installation

Posted Nov 20, 2009 23:49 UTC (Fri) by k8to (guest, #15413)
Parent article: Fedora 12 and unprivileged package installation

Making a system much more complicated than traditional UNIX only to satisfy a few current use cases is flawed thinking.

We now have a lot of new complexity. SELinux, PolicyKit, dbus, PackageKit. Linux, at least the Red Hat flavor, is getting harder to inspect, and harder to understand. This is not a path to long term success.

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Fedora 12 and unprivileged package installation

Posted Nov 21, 2009 10:28 UTC (Sat) by luya (subscriber, #50741) [Link] (2 responses)

Actually Policykit is not that hard the first time I used on Fedora 11. There are front-end (System->Preferences->Authorization on Gnome desktop) that allow configuration and fine-graining control unlike sudo (I have not for a long time because it is not a long term good choice).

Because that front-end is gone on Fedora 12 I have to relearn the policy setting from terminal (or using text-editor). The good thing about PolicyKit (Polkittool) is the ease of use and human readability.

Selinux has tremendously evolved. it is very easy to submit bug report so policy can be updated as soon as possible.

Packagekit is not hard at all although it does not have yumex complex functionality. However the ability to detect missing codec, fonts and the fact it is backend independent (yum, apt-deb, smart, conakry) cannot be overlooked. Because of my design field, I mostly use it for simple update and use yum for advanced function.

I think the biggest problem in this community is the fear of change and inertia for some traditional users. Let not forget Fedora is all about cutter technologies.

Fedora 12 and unprivileged package installation

Posted Nov 21, 2009 17:34 UTC (Sat) by k8to (guest, #15413) [Link] (1 responses)

It's not about how hard it is to click the settings. It's about how hard it is to be sure that the settings do exactly what you expect them to do.

If you can't be sure of exactly what they're doing, then you aren't creating security, you're creating false comfort.

Fedora 12 and unprivileged package installation

Posted Nov 21, 2009 19:57 UTC (Sat) by luya (subscriber, #50741) [Link]

Like using a tool without consulting a manual guide.