Ubuntu 23.10 (Mantic Minotaur) has reached end of life, so this bug will
not be fixed for that specific release.
** Changed in: gdebi (Ubuntu Mantic)
Status: Confirmed => Won't Fix
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1854588
Title:
[SRU] gdebi-gtk calls pkexec inappropriately
Status in gdebi package in Ubuntu:
Fix Released
Status in gdebi source package in Jammy:
Confirmed
Status in gdebi source package in Mantic:
Won't Fix
Status in gdebi source package in Noble:
Confirmed
Status in gdebi source package in Oracular:
Fix Released
Bug description:
[ Impact ]
The bug causes GDebi to quit as soon as you click Install Package to
try to install a .deb package, which is confusing to newer Linux users
who might not know about alternative command-line options such as
dpkg.
In particular, this bug happens when you download a .deb using Google
Chrome (or other browsers that aren't installed through snap) and tell
it to open the .deb file. GDebi is the default GUI .deb installer for
Ubuntu flavors such as MATE and Xubuntu, so this is a common situation
for people to run into.
This should be backported to the stable release because it fixes a
severe usability bug in Ubuntu MATE and Xubuntu. The system's default
package installer should not crash when you click the Install Package
button.
The upload fixes the bug by changing the way GDebi launches pkexec.
The non-privileged instance of GDebi will stay open in the background
so that pkexec will always have a parent process.
[ Test Plan ]
Simple test to simulate the situation that Chrome creates:
- Download a random .deb file you don't mind installing. In a terminal
window, type:
setsid gdebi-gtk /path/to/the/deb/file/you/downloaded.deb
- Click Install Package.
Prior to this bug fix, you will see an error "Refusing to render service to
dead parents." in your terminal window.
With this fix applied, it will ask you for your password and then install
properly.
Longer test that actually demonstrates the bug as users experience it:
- Start with a fresh install of Ubuntu MATE 24.04 or Xubuntu 24.04.
- Install Google Chrome from Google using their latest .deb file.
- Start with Chrome closed.
- If you're using MATE, drag the Google Chrome icon from the MATE menu to the
top panel bar. The reason for this is because the problem doesn't happen if you
launch Chrome from the MATE menu.
- Open Chrome by clicking the icon you dragged to the panel (or on Xubuntu,
you can just launch it from the menu).
- In Chrome, download any .deb file that you don't mind installing.
- Open it from Chrome's downloads. If you are asked which program to use,
choose GDebi (it will be the default).
- Click Install Package.
Prior to this bug fix, GDebi will just disappear when you click Install
Package. Nothing will be installed.
With this fix applied, it will ask you for your password and then install
properly.
[ Where problems could occur ]
If there is a mistake in this change that breaks the GDebi GUI for
other users who currently don't experience this bug (because they use
a browser that isn't affected such as the firefox snap), it could
cause them to be unable to install downloaded .deb files easily
through the GUI. Essentially it would result in the existing problem
widening its scope to more users.
[ Other Info ]
This problem was originally introduced with Ubuntu 17.10 when GDebi
switched from using gksu to pkexec. Over the years it has become more
and more rare as browsers installed through snap became more popular,
but as you can see from the reproduction steps above, it's still
pretty easy for people to experience since Chrome is so popular.
It has historically been difficult to reproduce (people will claim
it's already fixed or doesn't affect them anymore) because the
behavior depends on how the browser and GDebi are parented, which can
vary based on how the browser is launched.
[ Original Description ]
Steps to reproduce:
1. Have Ubuntu with gdebi-gtk installed
2. Open Firefox
3. Visit some site with deb-package download link or use direct link like
https://github.com/jgm/pandoc/releases/download/2.9.2.1/pandoc-2.9.2.1-1-amd64.deb
4. Proceed with file downloading
5. In Firefox select Library → Downloads, click on downloaded deb-file
Expected results:
* gdebi-gtk is opened, the package installs normally after users clicks
Install button
Actual results:
* gdebi-gtk is opened, the package is not installed because of vanishing of
gdebi-gtk window just after clicking Install button
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Before anyone says this bug already exists... it doesn't (at least as
far as I can see). It's just that a lot of similar bugs do/did exist
where people have also experienced the same symptoms (of gdebi-gtk
vanishing upon clicking 'Install').
So yes this is the same symptoms, but it must be a different cause as
the circumstances are different and doesn't have the same resolution.
The meat of it...
Basically on a fresh install of Ubuntu MATE 18.04.3 amd64... with Firefox (or
with Chrome if you installed that) go to any site that offers a .deb package
and either...
a) choose to open it directly from the browser (rather than saving it to
'Downloads' folder)
b) or... save the file (e.g. to the 'Downloads' folder), BUT!.. open that
file from within the browser itself.
You should find that gdebi-gtk appears but vanishes the moment you
click 'Install' without a prompt for a password, an explanation or the
package actually getting installed.
This bug has existed since the beginning of Ubuntu 18.04 however it's
been largely confused with other similar bugs. I've had it on half a
dozen machines and confirmed it exists with IRC users on #ubuntu-mate
of freenode.
However with *this* bug (compared to others) gdebi-gtk works perfectly
fine if you run it from the terminal or just double click the .deb
package from your file manager.
It's the kind of bug which if you're a hardened desktop Linux user,
you'd just work around it...
But if you're a novice and you can't get a simple thing like
Teamviewer installed (which is a .deb, and a thing I might ask someone
to do over the phone to try to help them) you likely get fed up and
re-install Windows :S
Any input on this would be brilliant as I can't seem to get any
logs/output.
~lantizia
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