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.
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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 !