GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 621622
Reword/rework "Drop all elevated privileges" notification icon
Last modified: 2011-05-16 14:46:43 UTC
Bug first report in lp: https://bugs.launchpad.net/hundredpapercuts/+bug/550502 1. Install something in Ubuntu Software Center.[or any action which requires authentication] 2. Click on the key icon that appears in the panel. What happens: The key is a menu containing one item, "Drop all elevated privileges". I don't understand this, and I therefore arrogantly assume that most people won't understand it either. :-) I cannot find any explanation in the Ubuntu Help or on the Web, only these people who also don't understand it: <http://forums.opensuse.org/applications/429061-drop-all-elevated-privileges.html> <http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=9041471> Does it do anything useful? If so, it should be reworded to express its usefulness. If not, it should be removed.
It makes perfect sense - it's for dropping the authorizations obtained through authentication. It would be nice if the UI mentioned what these authorizations are but that's not how it works right now.
What does "dropping the authorizations obtained through authentication" mean? What's an "authorization", in this context?
(In reply to comment #1) > It makes perfect sense - it's for dropping the authorizations obtained through > authentication. It would be nice if the UI mentioned what these authorizations > are but that's not how it works right now. Hmm , how can you say it makes "perfect sense" , when users are posting queries that they dont understand what it means? Re-opening bug. The wording can be improved.
(In reply to comment #3) > (In reply to comment #1) > > It makes perfect sense - it's for dropping the authorizations obtained through > > authentication. It would be nice if the UI mentioned what these authorizations > > are but that's not how it works right now. > > Hmm , how can you say it makes "perfect sense" , The same way you claim it makes "no sense"? I'm just using the same absolutes as you! > when users are posting queries > that they dont understand what it means? Lots of users file really bad bug reports. Lots of users use bugzilla for asking questions that is answered just fine by existing documentation. Lots of users don't know how to file a good bug report. And since our triaging team (including that of downstream) is typically very small or non-existant the maintainer gets to deal with it. And it gets old fast. </rant> > Re-opening bug. The wording can be improved. Then please rename the bug so it's representative for the issue at hand. Wait, don't bother, I've done that for you already.
(In reply to comment #2) > What does "dropping the authorizations obtained through authentication" mean? > What's an "authorization", in this context? Please familiarize yourself with the high-level docs: http://hal.freedesktop.org/docs/polkit/polkit.8.html In this case I think the first two paragraphs covers it.
(In reply to comment #4) > Then please rename the bug so it's representative for the issue at hand. > I've done that for you already. Awesome , thanks! How about , "End Authenticated session" ?
(In reply to comment #6) > > How about , "End Authenticated session" ? mpt , what do you think of the ^ suggestion? [and davidz too of course ;)]
I think "End Authenticated Session" would be better than "Drop all elevated privileges" -- because it at least uses an "authenticate"-based word, like the authentication dialog usually did in the first place, so it might trigger a mental association. Unfortunately, I don't think that improvement would be noticable -- I haven't tested it at all, but my wild-ass guess is that with either wording, we'd be looking at less than 2% of potential users understanding the purpose of the menu. If we worded it plainly as "Forget Password", we might get up to 5% or so understanding -- but that's technically inaccurate, it wouldn't make sense for non-password authentication (like a fingerprint reader), and 5% is still terrible. :-) There seem to be two basic problems here. First, people either won't notice the icon at all, or will notice it some time after they've authenticated (and the authentication was a subconscious interruption anyway), so they won't associate one with the other. And second, even if/when they do notice it, something so small and isolated can't reasonably explain the use case it exists for. I suggest considering more obvious ways of controlling how long authentication lasts. For example, a "Remember password for 5 minutes" checkbox in the authentication dialog itself.
(In reply to comment #8) > > If we worded it plainly as "Forget Password", we might get up to 5% or so > understanding -- but that's technically inaccurate, Apart from being inaccurate , "Forget Password" sounds like it will delete the password. This probably from being accustomed to web-browsers asking "Remember Passwords" while saving passwords. Maybe we can try pinging the docs team ?
(In reply to comment #9) > (In reply to comment #8) > > > > If we worded it plainly as "Forget Password", we might get up to 5% or so > > understanding -- but that's technically inaccurate, > > Apart from being inaccurate , "Forget Password" sounds like it will delete the > password. This probably from being accustomed to web-browsers asking "Remember > Passwords" while saving passwords. And Evolution already uses File > "Forget Passwords".
Now that the icon is not displayed on the panel.. Closing bug as Resolved/Fixed