Is this a bug?

wrh1728 · 2020-12-15 02:57:44

I am running XFCE 4.12 under Slackware 14.2, with an X session launched with startx -- -listen tcp. I have notice the following:

1. Add a launcher to one of the panels - e.g the top one.
2. Right click on the launcher added above and click on Properties.
3. Configure this launcher so that it will attempt to execute the following command:

sudo some-command

where some-command stands for anything - even a nonexistent command will do.
4. Fill out the rest of the entries in the launcher creation menu.
5. At this point the launcher is present in your panel.
6. Click on the launcher above.

Assuming that you have not invoked the sudo command in this session, on clicking on the launcher will cause the sudo command to attempt to prompt you for a password. However, because of the way it has been launched, you will never see the prompt. And what is really bad is that your XFCE session locks up. Completely. Nothing works - not only does it not respond to mouse or keyboard events any more but, in addition, the output from any running applications stops being updated - e.g. I have a clock app in the panel, and it just remains frozen at the second when the action described was undertaken.

Doing a kill -9 on the sudo (from e.g. an SSH shell) won't solve the problem. That is, the sudo process is killed, but the XFCE remains frozen. The simplest way out that I found is to kill the X server - which is, of course, a painful way to proceed, especially if your session has been up more than just a few days.

Notice that if the launcher is defined with the Run in terminal option set then a terminal emulator is indeed created, and the prompt can be seen. In this case, the XFCE session won't freeze.

Is this a known problem with XFCE 4.12?

ToZ · 2020-12-15 12:08:45

Hello and welcome.

You are correct in that sudo shouldn't hang the whole environment like that and it probably warrants a bug report.

However, you shouldn't use sudo in this case - sudo is a console-based command, meaning that it needs a console/terminal to display its prompt on (as you've noticed by running it in a terminal emulator window). Instead, use gksudo or pkexec because they will prompt a dialog for the password. Or alternatively, configure sudo to not require a password for the command that you are issuing (a little risky).

wrh1728 · 2020-12-15 13:50:00

I understand. The use of sudo here was merely illustrative - i.e. a barebones simple way to trigger the problem. I noticed it before with other applications that also prompt. Could you possibly point me in the right direction when it comes to filing a bug report?

ToZ · 2020-12-15 18:16:53

You can create a bug report here. You need to have a gitlab account to create a new issue report.

wrh1728 · 2020-12-15 19:18:58

Thanks; I have just reported the issue.

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#1 2020-12-15 02:57:44

Is this a bug?

#2 2020-12-15 12:08:45

Re: Is this a bug?

#3 2020-12-15 13:50:00

Re: Is this a bug?

#4 2020-12-15 18:16:53

Re: Is this a bug?

#5 2020-12-15 19:18:58

Re: Is this a bug?

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