[Bug 1083800] [NEW] Request: Allow users to shut down their machine when other users are logged in

[James M. Leddy]

Public bug reported:

Most desktop and laptop users are under the assumption that they can
shut down their machine even if someone else has a session open. What
happens today, unfortunately, is nothing. So when a user tries to
shutdown the machine, nothing happens, there is no explanation of why
the machine can't do anything.

I could see the argument for why we should not change behavior, but I
think it's worse to leave it as is. For example, I have an account on a
friend of mine's computer because I'm over there often. When I leave,
she can't shut down her computer. I had to resort to telling her to open
the terminal, and issue a sudo poweroff, something no average users
should have to do.

You can see the arguments for and against in bug 861171. I'm opening
this bug because I don't think we'll have a fix with a complete "Are you
sure?" type prompt very soon, and in the interim I think it's better to
let people shut down their computers.

** Affects: consolekit (Ubuntu)
     Importance: High
         Status: New

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1083800

Title:
  Request: Allow users to shut down their machine when other users are
  logged in

Status in “consolekit” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  Most desktop and laptop users are under the assumption that they can
  shut down their machine even if someone else has a session open. What
  happens today, unfortunately, is nothing. So when a user tries to
  shutdown the machine, nothing happens, there is no explanation of why
  the machine can't do anything.

  I could see the argument for why we should not change behavior, but I
  think it's worse to leave it as is. For example, I have an account on
  a friend of mine's computer because I'm over there often. When I
  leave, she can't shut down her computer. I had to resort to telling
  her to open the terminal, and issue a sudo poweroff, something no
  average users should have to do.

  You can see the arguments for and against in bug 861171. I'm opening
  this bug because I don't think we'll have a fix with a complete "Are
  you sure?" type prompt very soon, and in the interim I think it's
  better to let people shut down their computers.

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