Suppose you want to start printconf-gui from a text terminal using:

[gerald@soliton bin]$ printconf-gui &
[1] 6063
[gerald@soliton bin]$ You are attempting to run "printconf-gui" which requires
superuser
privileges, but more information is needed in order to do so.
Password for root:

If you start typing, your password will appear in plain on the screen and
it will be stored in the bash history. Consolehelper should dedect such
a situation and bring up a graphical pasword promt instead
(if possible or else fail).