Comment 35 for bug 10686

Started in '04 actually.

It's the lamest and hackiest solution imaginable, but in addition to the solution given in #20, if xscreensaver starts asking you for a password once you apply that solution and gnome stops bugging you for it, you can do this as root:

mv /usr/bin/xscreensaver-command{,-real}
cat > /usr/bin/xscreensaver-command << "EOF"
#!/bin/bash

if [ "${1}" == "-lock" ]; then /usr/bin/xscreensaver-command-real -activate; else /usr/bin/xscreensaver-command-real $@; fi
EOF
chmod +x /usr/bin/xscreensaver-command

This "solution" does have the added benefit of turning your screensaver on when you go to suspend for visual confirmation, which someone mentioned wanting years ago. You'll notice "solution" is in quotes for a good reason; this breaks functionality. If you ever want to lock your screen after this, you'll need to call xscreensaver-command-real -lock.