Description of problem: Kwrite won't start from a konsole as root. #kwrite xorg.conf does nothing. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): $ uname -a Linux localhost.localdomain 2.6.27.5-117.fc10.i686 #1 SMP Tue Nov 18 12:19:59 EST 2008 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux yum list *kde* Loaded plugins: kmdl, priorities, refresh-packagekit 0 packages excluded due to repository priority protections Installed Packages PyKDE4.i386 4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kde-filesystem.noarch 4-20.fc10 installed kde-settings.noarch 4.1-4.20081031svn.fc10 installed kde-settings-kdm.noarch 4.1-4.20081031svn.fc10 installed kdeaddons-atlantikdesigner.i386 3.5.10-2.fc10 installed kdeadmin.i386 7:4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kdeartwork.i386 4.1.3-2.fc10 installed kdeartwork-extras.i386 4.1.3-2.fc10 installed kdeartwork-kxs.i386 4.1.3-2.fc10 installed kdebase.i386 6:4.1.3-2.fc10 installed kdebase-libs.i386 6:4.1.3-2.fc10 installed kdebase-runtime.i386 4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kdebase-runtime-libs.i386 4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kdebase-workspace.i386 4.1.3-6.fc10 installed kdebase-workspace-libs.i386 4.1.3-6.fc10 installed kdebase3.i386 3.5.10-2.fc10 installed kdebase3-libs.i386 3.5.10-2.fc10 installed kdebase3-pim-ioslaves.i386 3.5.10-2.fc10 installed kdegames.i386 6:4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kdegames-libs.i386 6:4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kdegames3.i386 3.5.10-2.fc10 installed kdegames3-libs.i386 3.5.10-2.fc10 installed kdegraphics.i386 7:4.1.3-2.fc10 installed kdegraphics-libs.i386 7:4.1.3-2.fc10 installed kdelibs.i386 6:4.1.3-3.fc10 installed kdelibs-common.i386 6:4.1.3-3.fc10 installed kdelibs3.i386 3.5.10-1.fc10 installed kdemultimedia.i386 6:4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kdemultimedia-extras-freeworld.i386 6:3.5.10-1.fc8 installed kdemultimedia-libs.i386 6:4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kdenetwork.i386 7:4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kdenetwork-libs.i386 7:4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kdepim.i386 6:4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kdepim-libs.i386 6:4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kdepimlibs.i386 4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kdeplasma-addons.i386 4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kdetoys.i386 7:4.1.3-1.fc10 installed kdeutils.i386 6:4.1.3-1.fc10 installed lockdev.i386 1.0.1-13.fc10 installed lockdev-devel.i386 1.0.1-13.fc10 installed solar-kde-theme.noarch 0.1.16-2.fc10 installed Konsole-> Help-> About says version 2.1 How reproducible: Every time now. Used to work OK ? I can't remember. Steps to Reproduce: 1. Open a Konsole. su cd /etc/X11 2. # kwrite xorg.conf Actual results: Nothing happens. kwrite doesn't appear. I have to CTRL C to get back to the command line. Expected results: kwrite should appear with xorg.conf open. Additional info: I frequently use kwrite from the command line for editing files when I am working in konsole. Just be cause. I've been doing this for years. I can nano xorg.conf without any problems when kwrite doesn't work, so it isn't a files/permission thing. I can also browse to the file with Dolphin and open with kwrite and that works too. I think that kwrite xorg.conf always works when I am a regular user, ie not root. Here is what I get when I do it as a regular user: $ kwrite xorg.conf kwrite(7913)/Kate (Indentation) KateAutoIndent::setMode: mode "0" does not exist kwrite(7913)/Kate (Indentation) KateAutoIndent::setMode: mode "0" does not exist kwrite(7913)/Kate (Indentation) KateAutoIndent::setMode: mode "0" does not exist kwrite(7913)/Kate (Indentation) KateAutoIndent::setMode: mode "0" does not exist kwrite(7913)/Kate (Indentation) KateAutoIndent::setMode: mode "0" does not exist QThreadStorage: Thread 0x8b5d9e0 exited after QThreadStorage 2147483645 destroyed Thanks
I did some further testing. It isn't just kwrite that won't start. #dolphin doesn't work either. Nor does $kdesu kwrite, nor does $kdesu dolphin. Thanks
Use /usr/libexec/kde4/kdesu to start apps as root in a non-root session. The KDE 3 kdesu (which is what /usr/bin/kdesu is) is known not to work for KDE 4 applications, and running X11 apps inside su sessions has never worked reliably.
*** Bug 473969 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
"running X11 apps inside su sessions has never worked reliably." That is incorrect. I have been running editors and browsers as su from the command line in a non su session since RH8. I have never had a problem until now. Why is /usr/bin/kdesu a KDE3 app ? Asking the user to use /usr/libexec/kde4/kdesu is a work around. How is a general user supposed to know this ? Something like this should at least be in the release notes. I am going to open this bug so my comment is at least heard.
*** Bug 479481 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
"running X11 apps inside su sessions has never worked reliably." I agree with comment #4 - it has always worked for me. For a long time Fedora and Red Hat have taken the trouble to ensure that su sessions have the correct authority to run X11 applications securely, not only propagating the value of DISPLAY, but also setting XAUTHORITY. Yet the present issue is "not a bug" because we aren't supposed to be using Fedora this way. An unintended consequence of closing this bug is that when users search Bugzilla for bugs with the default search setting status=new/assigned (as I did, before filing bug 479481) they won't see this report. They will file the same bug over and over again. In the end it will be less annoying for the Fedora maintainers just to "fix" the bug. Keith. (BTW, the bug is a minor issue - I'm very pleased with Fedora 10 and its distribution of KDE 4. I recommend the upgrade to anyone still using older Fedora versions with KDE 3.)
Closing a bug as a duplicate takes all of 5 seconds, and if we get too many of them, we can even script it. (But IMHO Bugzilla's defaults are broken and it should always return closed bugs too, but you have to file a bug against the Bugzilla if you want that changed.)
fyi, > Why is /usr/bin/kdesu a KDE3 app ? We recently fixed this so that /usr/bin/kdesu is now shipped using the functional kde4 version.
This is still a problem. Neither of the following work: #kwrite #kdesu kwrite How is one supposed to open a file owned by root in a graphical editor, aside from logging in as root ? Which we all agree is not a great thing to do, for a number of reasons. I'm opening a new bug on this.
Uh, kdesu normally works. But you have to run kdesu write from a non-root terminal (or from Alt+F2)! It's kdesu which makes the app run as root. If that also doesn't work, I can only assume you corrupted something in your configuration by attempting to use su.
Oops, I mean "kdesu kwrite", not "kdesu write".
Please read my post carefully. I agree that $kdesu kwrite works. #kdesu kwrite doesn't. Nor does #kwrite. #kwrite used to work just fine. I used it for years. I run as su when I am doing maintenance. I cd to where the files are that I am working with and I work there. Often the directories are owned by root and you can't even get into them as a regular user. To use $kdesu kwrite under these conditions, I must start another session (thankfully its a tab in Konsole) and run it as a regular user and then jump back and forth between the two sessions as I chose to use command line commands and graphical tools, ie kwrite. That is a pain ! Is there a way for developers to make #kwrite or #kdesu kwrite work ?
> #kdesu kwrite doesn't. It's not expected to.
ssh -X root@localhost should work too (taking advantage of ssh's tunelling)