policy kit dialogs do not show on tablet image

[Brendan Donegan]

This is probably to be expected, but currently on the tablet image, when a policy-kit dialog would appear, nothing happens. We need to find a way to get the password from the user to grant permissions for those jobs which need it.

[Zygmunt Krynicki (zyga)]

I'm re-assigning this to plainbox as this is where we take the decision to use policykit.

[Zygmunt Krynicki (zyga)]

11:46 < zyga> hi, is policykit expected to work on ubuntu touch?
11:46 < zyga> https://bugs.launchpad.net/plainbox/+bug/1300828
11:46 < ubot5> Ubuntu bug 1300828 in PlainBox (Toolkit) "policy kit dialogs do not show on tablet image" [Undecided,Confirmed]
11:46 < ogra_> zyga, yes, else we wouldnt have ofono ir network-manager working
11:47 < ogra_> *or
11:47 < zyga> ogra_: including interactive dialog prompts?
11:47 < ogra_> ... or anything else that needs a privileged backend
11:47 < ogra_> zyga, no
11:47 < zyga> ogra_: why not and what's the replacement?
11:49 < ogra_> zyga, why would you have/want an interactive prompt ?
11:49 < zyga> ogra_: that's what we currently do on the desktop (to confirm stuff)
11:49 < ogra_> (i doubt there is anything planned for interaction, things have to work or not ... )
11:49 < zyga> ogra_: the user needs to ack that potentially dangerous tests are to be started
11:50 < zyga> ogra_: if we have no prompts at all, anyone on the system can run, .e.g. reboot test or suspend test
11:50 < ogra_> well, we dont have reboot support yet but i assume it will (like everything else) give the local user full permission
11:51 < ogra_> if you have the HW in your hand nothing stops you from holding the power button to reboot
11:51 < zyga> ogra_: so a flashlight app can reboot the tablet?
11:51 < ogra_> lol
11:51 < ogra_> no
11:51 < ogra_> an app cant do *anything*
11:51 < ogra_> they can no operate outside of their own context ... you should neot even be able to run a shell
11:51 < zyga> ogra_: and secure helpers cannot be apps themselves, right?
11:52 < ogra_> (there are still some bugs that allow you to)
11:52 < zyga> ogra_: so how do we do what we need to do? install standalone unsandboxed click app with everything and just have no prompts anywhere?
11:52 < ogra_> your app needs to ship all libs it needs etc .... or be a static one ... you wont be able to do anything outside of your confinement
11:52 < ogra_> zyga, i doubt this will work at all
11:53 < zyga> ogra_: so how can we run tests to certify a tablet device in the future?
11:53 < ogra_> talk to the security team ... by default your app has no direct access to anything from the system
11:53 < zyga> ogra_: ok, thanks
11:53 < ogra_> only if you have direct access to the device i-e- via adb
11:53 < zyga> ogra_: do you know any particular contact people?
11:53 < ogra_> try jdstrand
11:53 < zyga> thanks