Bug#766464: gksu pluma <any_file> sets the ownership of /run/user/1000/dconf/user to root:root

[Linas Vepstas]

Thanks Mike,

The package is "libpam-systemd".  A number of packages depend on it,
even if one is not using systemd.

>> http://cgit.freedesktop.org/systemd/systemd/commit/?id=baae0358f349870544884e405e82e4be7d8add9f

Above really does seem to provide the fix, based on the commit
message, and comments in the code.

> After reassigning, you should also mail to the bug with details, so that the
> new bug addressees notice what we want from them.

The primary issue is that, when one says "su - root", the code (circa
line 385 of src/login/logind-dbus.c of the above patch) used to set
the environment variable XDG_RUNTIME_DIR to
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000  (or whatever your original login uid
was, if not 1000). This, in turn, can sometimes lead  the ownership of
/run/user/1000/dconf/user to root:root ... for instance, if you start
pluma, as root, in that shell.  When you starrt pluma, gtk
initializes, causes dconf to initialize, which writes and chowns
/run/user/1000/dconf/user to root.

All subsequent gtk apps/daemons/services, started under your normal
non-root uid will now fail, as they also gtk+dconf initialize, but
now, they no longer have access to /run/user/1000/dconf/user ...
which then triggers a large assortment and cascade of different
bugs/fails, as different gtk apps bomb in different ways when the
dconf init step fails.

Based on bug history in the older redhat-rawhide bugzilla, I'm
guessing that there are probably a dozen different debian bugs that
are dupes, but don't know it yet.