[Wine] Explain to me how I do not need root?

[Martin Gregorie]

On Fri, 2009-11-20 at 16:08 -0600, Skaught wrote:
> Truth is, even if I wanted to run it as root I would not have the first idea of how.
> 
> What is?
> setuid bit
If a program has setuid permission it can run as root even when executed
by a normal user. Some programs do this because they use system calls
that are restricted to root but should be available to normal users.  

> appdb
- the WINE database of applications that have been run under it. Says if
they work and, if not, why not.

> selinux
- a security hardening Linux feature that operates at kernel level.

> apparmor
- similar to SElinux . Some distros use SElinux, others use apparmor

> LSM
- Logical Storage Manager. GIYF. [*]
> .getcap
- its been explained already. GIYF or 'man getcap'

> CAP_NET_ADMIN
- its been explained already. GIYF.

> setcap
- 'man setcap'
> 
> At various points ppl have said how straightforward it is.  All I have
> seen is jargon and disagreement.
> 
All technical areas have their own jargon, even using Windows, which you
need to understand if you're to talk meaningfully with others.

> I googled lots of things over several hours relating to my issue and
> found no docs or guides on how to run ping plotter on wine.
> 
Unsurprising, since its authors haven't seen fit to release any code
(not even for the shareware version) and part of what it does requires
setuid capability so it can do it as root. Since ping plotter is old
(back to Win95) and early versions of Windows wouldn't know what root
was if it bit their bum it obviously can't run as a normal Linux user
process. 

As it is, its far too complex and much too long running for a sensible
person to take the chance  of running it as root.


Martin