[lug] making gnome re-read config

[D. Stimits]

Zan Lynx wrote:
> On Wed, 2006-01-11 at 17:27 -0700, D. Stimits wrote:
> [snip]
> 
>>Thanks, this one did the trick! I might still be trying to figure out 
>>how to make it act on particular users when multiple users are running 
>>remote X sessions, via root. Right now an individual user can use 
>>gconftool-2 and create their own process to reconfigure based on changes 
>>or triggers in a SQL db, the next step is to figure out how to have a 
>>root (or special user) account run a daemon that can do this with 
>>multiple users on different displays (probably via triggers on a 
>>database table of preferences). Looks like the --owner might work for this.
> 
> 
> If you want to have a root daemon change user settings, the best and
> safest way to do this is to fork and in the child, before exec, setuid
> to the user, set your environment (especially HOME) appropriately, and
> then exec gconftool-2 with the right parameters.

Probably something like the above.

...
> If you're changing a system or network-wide mandatory gconf parameter,
> gconf is supposed to have support for that, but I'm not sure how it
> works.

It isn't that I want root to do the changes...it's that I want a single, 
centralized process that requires root to allow it. The environment is a 
controlled environment where general users are not allowed to install 
software. It would still require each user have their own config 
options...the options would not be mandatory for anyone, and would be 
customizable. What the end user would control are some option fields in 
a SQL table, the SQL table itself would impose root-defined limitations. 
This would allow cron jobs to also cause actions to be taken on 
individual users based on the settings of the individual user, but with 
data-driven restrictions and several means of allowing the user to 
specify desires (web-based, gui-based, console-baseed).

D. Stimits, stimits AT comcast DOT net