Allow user to authenticate when an operation fails because of lack of permissions

[Craig Hewetson]

If the user performs an operation and it fails because of a lack of permissions, the error dialog should not only inform the user of this but also allow the user to Authenticate himself and retry the operation.

"Pre" authentication is already in use in ubuntu in the form of the "Unlock" button in admin dialogs.

Allowing the user to retry with more permissions will make life easier.

A scenario of how this could be used:
A user tries to delete a file(s) created by root (using nautilus), the user is then told that the operation failed on a particular file because of a lack of permissions.

The error dialog will then present the options to either "skip", "skip all", "cancel", "Authenticate" and "Authenticate All". When the authenticate options are selected, the operation could be retried with the user rights entered (can even reuse the Authenticate dialog).

"Authenticate All" option will allow the user to make use of the permissions for the rest of the files.

This will save the user time because he no longer needs to go and change the permissions manually after it failed.

See brainstorm idea:
http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/idea/15877/

Seems related to the bug:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/hundredpapercuts/+bug/387972

Note: The above behaviour can also apply to when a user is editing a file in gedit that is located in an area where his current permissions aren't sufficient. Instead of being stuck there user can be asked to authenticate and have the operation retried.

[Craig Hewetson (craighewetson-deactivatedaccount)]

If this requires more "effort", then maybe I need to move this bug to another project. The problem is that this doesn't only apply to nautilus. It applies to all file manipulation (write, move and modify) where the file is not owned by the current user, but the current user can elevate (but authentication) his rights to perform the operation.

[Przemek K. (azrael)]

Another related bug: bug #388459

[Vish (vish)]

Thank you for bringing this bug to our attention. Unfortunately a paper cut should be a small usability issue that affects many people and is quick and easy to fix. I'm afraid this bug can't be addressed as part of this project.

This is not a simple/easy fix,and more of a feature request, Hence not a papercut.

A paper cut is a minor usability annoyance that an average user would encounter on his/her first day of using a new installation of Ubuntu 9.10.

For further info about papercuts criteria , pls read > https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PaperCut

Don't worry though, This bug has been marked as "invalid" ONLY in the papercuts project.

But this would be a nice usability feature , For resolution of this, kindly identify the projects affected and re-assign the bug to that project, otherwise the devs of the concerned project might not be notified of this problem. For more about finding the right package> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/FindRightPackage.

[Moonsurfer_1 (moonsurfer-1)]

Well, i think a lot of users including me would like this "feature" too... It's really annoying to have to turn to the terminal when you first try nautilus and it fails...

[Craig Hewetson (craighewetson-deactivatedaccount)]

This was logged in nautilus because this problem happens more frequently here. The second place to implement this would be in gedit. And I'm sure this feature would then explode to other editors and file managers etc.

Should this bug be moved to GNOME so that nautilus, gedit and other apps can make use of the same mechanism?

[Tim Macdonald (tsmacdonald)]

I'll take your word for it if it's not a papercut, but it is a very annoying aspect.

[Ryan Haigh (ryanhaigh)]

In my opinion this problem should be addressed at an application level rather than in the file manager, perhaps creating a standard gnome privilege escalation framework that apps can use to change permissions WHEN A FILE IS SAVED. I think implementing this in the file manager and having the escalation dialog come up whenever a user OPENS a file is the wrong approach and would reduce the mental barrier ending up with a system like UAC which everyone just clicks through without thinking about.

For the moment I think determining which apps in the default install are most often effected by this bug should be a priority. From my only experience this problem is most often experienced in the text editors I use: gedit and nano. Obviously people use different console editors but gedit is the only GUI editor in the default install and as such would be a great place to start.

The only other application that I recall this problem effecting (at the moment anyway) is nvidia-settings which can be launched as a user but doesn't allow the xorg.conf changes to be saved unless started with root permissions.

@Moonsurfer_1
Just wanted to point out that you can open files as with admin privileges from nautilus, install the package nautilus-gksu and after you restart nautilus/logoff-on, you will have a right click option to open as administrator. I personally think this should be installed by default.

[Vish (vish)]

@Moonsurfer_1: Or also the nautilus script, "Open as Root"

[Craig Hewetson (craighewetson-deactivatedaccount)]

"Open as root" is potentially very dangerous, and I think that is why its discouraged.

[Paul White (paulw2u)]

Upstream report was closed "RESOLVED FIXED" on 2016-07-13
Reporter no longer uses Launchpad so cannot ask if fix
meets his requirements.
Last comment from any user was over 10 years ago
nautilus 3.26.4 in Ubuntu 18.04 prompts for admin password
when elevated permissions are required so closing as fixed