BOINC client fails to detect when the system is idle

[Mauro]

[ Impact ]
BOINC client 7.16.6 packaged for Ubuntu 20.04 fails to detect when the system is idle. So, if you set your projects to run after the system has been idle for x minutes, computations will never start and remain in status "Suspended - computer is in use" state forever.

This is a regression compared to older versions (7.16.3 for instance).
Seems to be fixed upstream in 7.16.11, see: https://github.com/BOINC/boinc/issues/3715

[ Test case ]
* Open boinc and set to run only if the system is idle, in syslog you will spot lots of "permission denied" and it won't detect the idle time without starting

[ Regression Potential ]
* Low, the current code looks broken due two bugs, one permission denied issue fixed with a service file change, and the other in the detection code due to a wrong variable being used

[ Other info ]
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: boinc-client 7.16.6+dfsg-1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.4.0-51.56-generic 5.4.65
Uname: Linux 5.4.0-51-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.9
Architecture: amd64
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
CurrentDesktop: KDE
Date: Wed Oct 21 09:17:09 2020
InstallationDate: Installed on 2020-10-05 (15 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 20.04.1 LTS "Focal Fossa" - Release amd64 (20200731)
SourcePackage: boinc
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
modified.conffile..etc.boinc-client.gui_rpc_auth.cfg: [inaccessible: [Errno 13] Permesso negato: '/etc/boinc-client/gui_rpc_auth.cfg']
mtime.conffile..etc.boinc-client.global_prefs_override.xml: 2020-04-22T12:16:59

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Brian Murray (brian-murray)]

The Groovy Gorilla has reached end of life, so this bug will not be fixed for that release

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Gordon P. Hemsley (gphemsley)]

Any word on when this upstream fix might make its way to Focal?

[Gordon P. Hemsley (gphemsley)]

Note that there appear to be two different patches that need to be incorporated, to fix different underlying causes:
https://github.com/BOINC/boinc/pull/3512
https://github.com/BOINC/boinc/pull/4105