+++ This bug was initially created as a clone of Bug #670612 +++

PolicyKit now allows members of desktop_admin_r group to configure a lot of system settings, however many other packages still require the existence and knowledge of root user. The problem is that until I googled for this new feature I couldn't find a way to set it up.

For Fedora 15 and newer Fedora releases I strongly suggest implementing a rootless desktop system where everything can be configured without using/knowing root account/password.

So, I identify the following problems:

1) PolicyKit solution doesn't seem to be complete as many system-config-* scripts still require the existence of root user.

2) In some cases PolicyKit might not be available/running or functioning properly, so sudo solution seems to be better suited for such a scenario.

3) That means upon installation Fedora must configure any number of selected users as "trusted" users, who whom sudo policy must be written. I suggest creating a new group "sudo" and adding appropriate users to it.

Of course, /etc/sudoers.d/00sudo must be configured:

%sudo ALL=(ALL) ALL

4) PolicyKit and system-config-* scripts must be made aware of sudo capabilities.

--- Additional comment from Fedora Admin XMLRPC Client on 2011-02-16 10:48:59 EST ---

This package has changed ownership in the Fedora Package Database.  Reassigning to the new owner of this component.

--- Additional comment from Fedora Admin XMLRPC Client on 2011-02-16 11:09:05 EST ---

This package has changed ownership in the Fedora Package Database.  Reassigning to the new owner of this component.

--- Additional comment from Fedora End Of Life on 2013-04-03 14:51:02 EDT ---
I believe this bug is still relevant:

* during the installation there should be no request for root password by default
* all the system administration related tasks should work via sudo by default
* the use of root account should be explicitly discouraged in the documentation

This will not only help to increase overall system security but will also help to get rid of tons of bugs in bugzilla regarding "this and that doesn't work under root account".


This bug appears to have been reported against 'rawhide' during the Fedora 19 development cycle.
Changing version to '19'.

(As we did not run this process for some time, it could affect also pre-Fedora 19 development
cycle bugs. We are very sorry. It will help us with cleanup during Fedora 19 End Of Life. Thank you.)

More information and reason for this action is here:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/BugZappers/HouseKeeping/Fedora19

--- Additional comment from Fedora Admin XMLRPC Client on 2013-10-14 05:17:37 EDT ---

This package has changed ownership in the Fedora Package Database.  Reassigning to the new owner of this component.

--- Additional comment from Vratislav Podzimek on 2013-10-14 07:06:58 EDT ---

The firstboot utility is deprecated and no longer developed in Fedora 19 and newer releases. It was replaced by the initial-setup utility with a completely different codebase. If you still have any similar problems with Fedora 19 or later, please file a new bug against initial-setup or gnome-initial-setup if you did a GNOME install.