On 12/7/17, Dave Sherohman <d...@sherohman.org> wrote: > On Thu, Dec 07, 2017 at 11:26:45AM +1300, Ben Caradoc-Davies wrote: >> Special privileges have been granted to console users for as long as I >> can >> remember, long before systemd, because they have physical access to the >> machine. Console users typically are also permitted to mount, unmount, >> and >> eject removable media, and have access to audio devices. > > I think this is a key point that's been overlooked in the complaints > about this behavior: It has nothing to do with systemd. > > I no longer have any non-systemd machines handy to verify this on, but > my memory is that I have *always* been able to use halt/poweroff/reboot > commands from the console without requiring sudo or entering a password, > and I've been using Debian since 2000ish, well before systemd was even a > gleam in some programmer's eye. /sbin/shutdown may have also been > freely available at the console, but I don't remember that one clearly, > since I didn't use it all that often once I discovered the others. > > But, then, even if I'm remembering incorrectly, it's still a policy > matter, not a technical one. If the policy was changed at the same time > as Debian switched to systemd, that's just a coincidence of timing and > the same policy change could have happened while still under sysvinit.
I do remember having to give a password, but I don't remember how long ago now. And I have too much open right now to test drive whether mine does it or not these days.. :) I do understand everyone's rationale for why they like or dislike either way. Something I did *not* understand when I saw it in operation was why a password was needed at the terminal but not from within the GUI's "Applications > Log Out" menu path. I think I finally came to the (potentially misguided) a-sumption that one rationale *might* have something to do with having to sit here in person to click the GUI's menu path but maybe not for the terminal and/or other (?) hackable routes....... :) Cindy :) -- Cindy-Sue Causey Talking Rock, Pickens County, Georgia, USA * runs with duct tape *
