Avoid a KDEctomy: Musings on sudo and kdesudo

[Snowhog]

I don't think so. Launching any GUI app with kdesudo preserves the users environment. There are some quirks (by design?) where you need/must launch a System Settings module 'as root' in order for changes to be preserved between reboots. That's why I suggested this approach. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, then there is some other issue as the root cause (no pun intended) of the OP's problem.

[james147]

I don't think so. Launching any GUI app with kdesudo preserves the users environment. There are some quirks (by design?) where you need/must launch a System Settings module 'as root' in order for changes to be preserved between reboots. That's why I suggested this approach. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, then there is some other issue as the root cause (no pun intended) of the OP's problem.

No, it uses roots environment:

kdesudo konsole
# echo $HOME
/root

So all settings are saved to /root rather then your home and you cannot read roots settings. Some dialogs are designed to affect system settings when run as root (such as the grub one) but phonon is only meant to be run as a normal user.

[Snowhog]

I stand corrected.

[SteveRiley]

Musings on sudo and kdesudo

Inconsistencies...

steve@t520:~$ [B]whoami[/B]
steve

steve@t520:~$ [B]echo $HOME[/B]
/home/steve

steve@t520:~$ [B]pwd[/B]
/home/steve

steve@t520:~$ [B]sudo konsole[/B]

root@t520:~# [B]whoami[/B]
root

root@t520:~# [B]echo $HOME[/B]
/home/steve

root@t520:~# [B]pwd[/B]
/home/steve

root@t520:~# [B]exit[/B]

steve@t520:~$ [B]kdesudo konsole[/B]

root@t520:/home/steve# [B]whoami[/B]
root

root@t520:/home/steve# [B]echo $HOME[/B]
/root

root@t520:/home/steve# [B]pwd[/B]
/home/steve

root@t520:/home/steve# [B]exit[/B]
steve@t520:~$

[kubicle]

Inconsistencies...

That's basically the reason why one should run GUI apps with kdesudo rather than sudo (sudo by default, and as configured in *buntus, doesn't fully change to root environment)

[SteveRiley]

Yeah, the difference lies in the value of $HOME. This is also interesting, to see how $XAUTHORITY changes.

steve@t520:~$ [B]sudo env[/B]
TERM=xterm
LS_COLORS={...snipped...}
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
HOME=/home/steve
LANGUAGE=
DISPLAY=:0
XAUTHORITY=/tmp/kde-steve/xauth-1000-_0
SHELL=/bin/bash
LOGNAME=root
USER=root
USERNAME=root
MAIL=/var/mail/root
SUDO_COMMAND=/usr/bin/env
SUDO_USER=steve
SUDO_UID=1000
SUDO_GID=1000

steve@t520:~$ [B]kdesudo env[/B]
LANGUAGE=
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
DISPLAY=:0
XAUTHORITY=/tmp/kdesudo-Z27358-xauth
TERM=xterm
LS_COLORS={...snipped...}
HOME=/root
SHELL=/bin/bash
LOGNAME=root
USER=root
USERNAME=root
MAIL=/var/mail/root
SUDO_COMMAND=/usr/bin/env
SUDO_USER=steve
SUDO_UID=1000
SUDO_GID=1000

[dibl]

Right -- when ~/.Xauthority becomes owned by root, as a result of "sudo kate" or something like that, the user is done logging in to KDE. A painful lesson learned the hard way by many a Kubuntu user, including yours truly.

[SteveRiley]

the user is done logging in to KDE

Yawp, I've experienced the same KDEctomy myself!

[kubicle]

Yeah, the difference lies in the value of $HOME.

That's the difference that commonly creates the most "havoc", but not the only one.

One can run GUI apps with sudo using root's $HOME, but that usually requires a bit of tinkering, something like (but not limited to):
sudo -H XAUTHORITY=$HOME/.Xauthority konsole

Then again, this has very little to do with the topic at hand, and probably belongs in another topic

[kubicle]

Right -- when ~/.Xauthority becomes owned by root, as a result of "sudo kate" or something like that, the user is done logging in to KDE. A painful lesson learned the hard way by many a Kubuntu user, including yours truly.

Hmm...I don't think running 'sudo kate' should change the .Xauthority ownership (kate configs and caches are another matter)...something like sudo startx probably could.
(I'll admit I'm not 100% on that, though, I don't use sudo like that so I don't really have empirical evidence)

Perhaps mod could split us thread privateers onto a new thread, so we don't mask the OP's problem?

[SteveRiley]

Moved. Snowhog actually beat me to it, but then his disappeared into the mod pit

[woodsmoke]

well, if one READS all the info provided in the little black box thingy and LOOKS at where one is in the pathway then one will know if one is going to be hoist on one's own sudopetard.

lol

woodsmoke

[Snowhog]

He's ba-a-a-ack!

[SteveRiley]

sudopetard

Is that anything like a pseudopetard? Or more like a sudopicard?

[Snowhog]

Potato, patato. You say Amond, I say almond.