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Bug 784270 - Keyring unlock prompt should not be modal
Keyring unlock prompt should not be modal
Status: RESOLVED OBSOLETE
Product: gnome-shell
Classification: Core
Component: general
3.22.x
Other Linux
: Normal normal
: ---
Assigned To: gnome-shell-maint
gnome-shell-maint
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
 
Reported: 2017-06-27 23:39 UTC by Dan Jacobson
Modified: 2021-07-05 14:41 UTC
See Also:
GNOME target: ---
GNOME version: ---



Description Dan Jacobson 2017-06-27 23:39:26 UTC
When asking
"An application wants access to the keyring 'Default', but it is locked"
allow the user to ask Google what is going on.

Don't just lock all other windows, so that even if one can switch to
them, one is not permitted to type anything into them.

In fact the only way to get to Google, is to leave all of X-windows,
via ALT-CTRL-F1.

But at that point the user can use a text browser, e.g., w3m, or lynx.
And many users don't know how to use them.

So the user returns to X-windows (nodm, icewm, ALT-CTRL-F7) and types a
few passwords and finally gives up with "Cancel". And who knows if the
password (for the website he was browsing, that wanting to save
triggered this mess) is saved.

Furthermore, besides not allowing the user to reach Google, you don't
even let him type
$ import -pause 11 screenshot.jpg
to send you a picture of what he is talking about.

Nor can he copy it with a mouse.
Comment 1 Dan Jacobson 2017-06-27 23:41:12 UTC
You effectively lock the user's entire computer.
He is not allowed to use Facebook, email, anyting, until he answers the question.
You might as well go one step further, and remove the cancel button.
Comment 2 Dan Jacobson 2017-06-27 23:44:51 UTC
journalctl says
Gcr: calling the PromptReady method on /org/gnome/keyring/Prompt/p@:1.2
so maybe that is what is doing this.
Comment 3 Michael Catanzaro 2017-06-27 23:52:04 UTC
Yeah, this is a problem. It also happens for all Polkit authorization prompts, preventing users from looking up passwords at the very moment the passwords are needed. Quite annoying. There's another bug for that somewhere. The keyring unlock prompt is a separate issue, though, so I won't mark this as a duplicate.

(Note: gnome-shell presents this prompt, not Epiphany.)
Comment 4 Michael Catanzaro 2017-06-27 23:56:31 UTC
Oh and thanks for trying to take a screenshot, but yeah it's not possible when the shell is displaying a modal dialog. :/ Anyway, we know exactly what dialog this is. If you're curious, the code in the gnome-shell repo is under js/ui/components/keyring.js.
Comment 5 Dan Jacobson 2017-06-28 17:37:35 UTC
By the way, can anybody tell me what the password is that I am supposed to type?
You know the message could give a hint.
Maybe it is my password.
Maybe it is the root password.
Maybe it is some other password.
Maybe there is no password.
Well I suppose we could just feed all our guesses into its mysterious mouth,
but guess what, it is never satisfied.
And it should say the consequences of not giving it a password.
Will it just throw all our facebook, google, etc. passwords away?
Will it keep them for us anyway, but just not also put them in some place B in addition to original place A?
And it should say how to not have to deal with it over and over again.
Comment 6 Michael Catanzaro 2017-06-28 17:47:37 UTC
It's your gnome-keyring password, which should be the same as the password of your user account if your distro has configured gnome-keyring properly. Most users should never see this dialog ever, because in that case the keyring gets unlocked automatically when you log in.
Comment 7 Michael Catanzaro 2017-06-28 17:47:53 UTC
(In reply to Michael Catanzaro from comment #6)
> It's your gnome-keyring password

Specifically, the password for your login keyring.
Comment 8 Dan Jacobson 2017-06-28 17:54:44 UTC
Maybe I could somehow set it to the same password that I use that ends up in /etc/passwd . Then maybe it wouldn't bother me ever again.
Alas I do not know how to do that.
Comment 9 Michael Catanzaro 2017-06-28 17:58:52 UTC
Easiest way to change the password manually would be to use seahorse.
Comment 10 Dan Jacobson 2017-06-29 00:45:07 UTC
OK I installed seahorse, and it asked me the old password, and I guessed wrong.

And it also says

seahorse-Message: DNS-SD initialization failed: Daemon not running

(seahorse:5082): Gtk-WARNING **: (/build/gtk+3.0-Bt64AJ/gtk+3.0-3.22.16/./gtk/gtkicontheme.c:5493):gtk_icon_theme_lookup_by_gicon_for_scale: runtime check failed: ((flags & GTK_ICON_LOOKUP_GENERIC_FALLBACK) == 0)

(seahorse:5082): Gtk-WARNING **: (/build/gtk+3.0-Bt64AJ/gtk+3.0-3.22.16/./gtk/gtkicontheme.c:2226):gtk_icon_theme_choose_icon_for_scale: runtime check failed: ((flags & GTK_ICON_LOOKUP_GENERIC_FALLBACK) == 0)

(seahorse:5082): Gtk-WARNING **: (/build/gtk+3.0-Bt64AJ/gtk+3.0-3.22.16/./gtk/gtkicontheme.c:5493):gtk_icon_theme_lookup_by_gicon_for_scale: runtime check failed: ((flags & GTK_ICON_LOOKUP_GENERIC_FALLBACK) == 0)

(seahorse:5082): Gtk-WARNING **: (/build/gtk+3.0-Bt64AJ/gtk+3.0-3.22.16/./gtk/gtkicontheme.c:2226):gtk_icon_theme_choose_icon_for_scale: runtime check failed: ((flags & GTK_ICON_LOOKUP_GENERIC_FALLBACK) == 0)

(seahorse:5082): seahorse-CRITICAL **: gkr-keyring-properties.vala:33: Unknown internal child: action_area

(seahorse:5082): Gtk-CRITICAL **: gtk_container_add: assertion 'GTK_IS_WIDGET (widget)' failed

(seahorse:5082): Gtk-CRITICAL **: gtk_widget_show: assertion 'GTK_IS_WIDGET (widget)' failed
Comment 11 Dan Jacobson 2017-06-29 00:45:51 UTC
P.S.,
Aren't you guys worried that you will be fined by some European
commission for taking over peoples' computer? Even 1/10000 of what they
fined Google for monopolizing ads. You know we are using nodm + icewm +
epiphany ... I.e., only one window belongs to you. So locking users out
of all their other windows, leaving them helpless like some ransomware
program, is worse than the Great Firewall of China. Cease and desist now.
Comment 12 Dan Jacobson 2017-06-29 00:48:55 UTC
Or maybe, like Android, some controls need to be added somewhere, to not let a single app take over the whole cellphone.
Comment 13 GNOME Infrastructure Team 2021-07-05 14:41:40 UTC
GNOME is going to shut down bugzilla.gnome.org in favor of  gitlab.gnome.org.
As part of that, we are mass-closing older open tickets in bugzilla.gnome.org
which have not seen updates for a longer time (resources are unfortunately
quite limited so not every ticket can get handled).

If you can still reproduce the situation described in this ticket in a recent
and supported software version, then please follow
  https://wiki.gnome.org/GettingInTouch/BugReportingGuidelines
and create a new ticket at
  https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell/-/issues/

Thank you for your understanding and your help.