Get rid of that ‘default keyring’ password bullshit when you login to GNOME
I haven’t gone on a good ol’ fashioned rant in a long time. And you know what? This one has been in the making for a while. I’m not holding back… here I go…
Policykit sucks!!! What’s with this excessive password crap? By default for GNOME in Fedora 10/11 you have to use a password for everything! You need a password to login to GNOME, then once inside GNOME your password will be required to unlock network-manager. That doesn’t seem so bad… I’ve only entered the same password three times(including the Linux login).
So I have access to the web and I’m happy for the moment until I decide to attach my USB thumb drive to copy some files for my neighbor… …and guess what? I need a password to mount my USB thumb drive. So I decide to watch a TV show I have on a DVD-R. By default mounting a DVD requires my password.
Installing programs from the ‘Add/Remove Software’ requires your regular keyring password to launch the app and the root password to install the actual software. Now am I wrong in concluding this is a totally retarded way to handle desktop security? Typing in the same password eight times in thirty minutes? This is why 7 year old Windows XP is still a contender. Even though Open Source GNU Linux is technically superior and far more secure.
Seven times GNOME keyring asked for a password. That’s as bad as Vista. No, it’s even worse. Nobody loves Vista. In fairness however, Microsoft’s Vista doesn’t require a password to attach a common USB pen drive. Even using an SSH connection from the console requires keyring to intervene with GNOME!
Luckily, you can install ‘pam_keyring’ with yum. This will use your Linux login for the default keyring at login, but you have to access the keyring-manager to adjust the rest. Huge hassle. It’s annoying shit like this that keeps the average bear off Desktop Linux. My Mom is a smart woman, but she would never figure this out, and so she will continue to run Windows XP indefintely.
Pick through the options and see if you can find where to grant access to mount a DVD. This is not security, it's insanity.
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Holy Crap this hit the nail on the head. There has gotta be a better way to handle security then the same password 5 or 6 or 7 times…
Surely once you are in the OS and security is necessary to make sure a program isn’t taking over a task that should be the user’s choice there is someone out there who can figure out an easier and still safe solution!?
Right on the button !