Xserver needs to run as "root" on Linux / was: Re: [Xorg] Server side widgets

[Roland Mainz]

Sean Middleditch wrote:
[snip]
> Third, speaking of root, do you really want all that complex code in
> such a process?  The more code you have, the more potential bugs and
> security holes.

This is _ONLY_ a problem of the Linux Xserver. Solaris and other Unices
run their Xserver under plain user accounts. IMHO there should be
_urgendly_ some work on removing the requirement of running the Xserver
as "root". Things like a seperate group (e.g. "X11", "Xserver") +
setting ACLs on the neccesary /dev entries comes in mind... or turning
the drivers into kernel modules (AFAIK Solaris Xsun does it that way).

----

Bye,
Roland

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