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Bug 10715

Summary: xscreensaver does not work as root or lock virtual consoles
Product: [Retired] Red Hat Linux Reporter: whitis
Component: xscreensaverAssignee: Bill Nottingham <notting>
Status: CLOSED NOTABUG QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: 6.2CC: mattdm, rvokal
Target Milestone: ---   
Target Release: ---   
Hardware: i386   
OS: Linux   
Whiteboard:
Fixed In Version: Doc Type: Bug Fix
Doc Text:
Story Points: ---
Clone Of: Environment:
Last Closed: 2000-04-11 14:45:23 UTC Type: ---
Regression: --- Mount Type: ---
Documentation: --- CRM:
Verified Versions: Category: ---
oVirt Team: --- RHEL 7.3 requirements from Atomic Host:
Cloudforms Team: --- Target Upstream Version:
Embargoed:

Description whitis 2000-04-11 02:36:11 UTC 
When you are running Xfree86 as root, xscreensaver does not work
for several reasons.  First, it sets its uid/gid to nobody and then
it can't access the screen; adding a xhost +nobody would be a very
bad idea.  It also has problems with the .xscreensaver file (according
to xscreensaver-demo) because it will read ~nobody/.xscreensaver but
xscreensaver-demo will modify ~root/.xscreensaver.

I don't normally run X as root but was doing so while initially
setting up a system.  Also, some of the redhat system management
tools are designed to be run as root.

Also, when xscreensaver is run as an ordinary user, it does not
lock the linux virtual console switching which makes it completely useless
as a screen locker.
Comment 1 Bill Nottingham 2000-04-11 14:45:59 UTC 
xscreensaver will not lock the screen as root; it's designed that
way.

Unfortunately, it can't catch the switch VC keycodes, so it
can't prevent it.
Comment 2 Bill Nottingham 2000-05-16 16:11:59 UTC 
*** Bug 11419 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 3 Bill Nottingham 2001-05-17 15:35:37 UTC 
*** Bug 41108 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 4 Bill Nottingham 2001-09-26 21:41:18 UTC 
*** Bug 54070 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 5 Bill Nottingham 2001-10-31 15:38:27 UTC 
*** Bug 55442 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 6 Bill Nottingham 2002-11-22 03:39:14 UTC 
*** Bug 74898 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 7 Bill Nottingham 2002-11-22 17:04:14 UTC 
*** Bug 78370 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***