Re: limited user on XP media center 2005 OS

poogimmal wrote:

>>On Wed, 2005-08-17 at 14:57 -0700, r coyne wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Why does one need to install from an administrator
>>>account? I can't imagine any reason why a word
>>>processor should need system- or administrator-type
>>>privileges, and requiring them seems like terrible
>>>design. No doubt there may be aspects of a "standard"
>>>full-scale installation that do require broad access;
>>>but not everybody wants to do those things. The
>>>principle of least privilege is important; when it
>>>comes to computers, paranoids live longer.
>>>
>>>
>____________________________________________________
>Actually, you are confusing two different issues here. Running the word
>processor doesn't require administrator priveleges, as expected.
>Installation (a system-wide change), however, does require
>administrator privileges, and this is desired (and necessary). One
>doesn't want a limited user installing programs, this is in fact often
>the reason that limited users are set up in Windows. If limited users
>aren't restricted from installing software, which is a major
>system-administration action, what use is the designation of limited
>user?
>
>AbiWord does work in such a situation, where the software is installed
>by the system administrator, and used by any number of limited users.
>I know, I use it this way on several Windows 2000 machines.
>
>If for some reason the clean install I suggested (uninstall, remove
>c:\program files\abisuite2, install again as administrator), please
>file a bug. There would then be an error specific to your setup.
>
>Thanks for using AbiWord!
>Ryan Pavlik
>______________________________________________________________
>
>WOW, after waiting a week of no replies, now several the past
>few days, apparently *ignoring* the facts of my OP inquiry:
>abiword 2.2.9 was installed on new XP media center 2005 OS;
>it *was* installed from *administrator account* as was stated in
>my OP; abiword runs fine from that administrator account;
>but, I get the error originally noted when I try to run from
>an "limited user account." my preliminary investigation
>indicates that "permissions" are different in XP media center
>2005 than in windows2000, or even XPpro, & perhaps XPhome.**
>I would appreciate a reply on these facts, rather than being
>told to reinstall as administrator when it was installed as
>administrator. I'd rather hear "clueless" or silence than
><ohyyfuvg>
>
>

I am one of the few here who reads this list on a regular basis and
replies that has expertise in Windows. My computer was not functioning
(hardware problem) and I could not access my email normally, and my
webmail isn't very good. I'm very sorry that I couldn't get to your
request for help earlier, although with the heat that's been put on me
and the other developers in these threads, it sometimes surprises me
that people keep helping out.

As I mentioned, the troubleshooting first step is to make sure that
installation went correctly by using an adminstrator account to install
to a fresh directory. This prevents weirder than usual permissions and
also avoids symbol conflicts between versions. I sorta know what I'm
talking about here, the slightest modicum of respect would be appreciated.

It seems that on your system, there is something wrong with the
permissions such that a limited user cannot run it normally. Thanks for
letting us know. However, I'm not dripping in money (and nor is the
project - this is all volunteer), and since I'm one of the few Windows
people here, the chances of one of us having a MCE2005 box available to
test is extremely low. This is how you, the users, can help us.

However, the way to help is not to stir up a flamefest on the user
mailing list. I'm one of the few Windows people, and I suspect for a
reason, though I dare not speak for the others. The Windows build is
often the most tricky, and the users are generally the most vocal when
things don't work, being used to calling up their 24/7 outsourced tech
support and being lead through troubleshooting steps that have nothing
to do with the problem. Things are different here - none of us are
paid, and we do this out of the goodness of our hearts. We're not
asking for pity, but we do ask that when you help us or ask for help,
that you do it with appropriate tact as to not inflame passions.

I mentioned that we don't have a MCE2005 box to test on. This means
that you may have found a real, legitimate bug - it happens. The place
to get it resolved is not through much ado about nothing on the mailing
list, but in bugzilla, where bugs get reported and _fixed_. Please file
a bug at http://bugzilla.abisource.com now - I'll be watching. I glance
at every single bug filed, and read ones that I might be able to help
with. We do care. Really. Just treat us (and more importantly, the
core developers) with some respect.

This goes for _everyone_ stirring up messes here. This is not that hard
of a problem, and it could have been resolved a lot easier than this,
and without causing me to write several very long, and somewhat
exasperated emails.

As for me, I am one of the few people who work on preparing AbiWord's
Windows installation files, and that's almost certainly where this
problem lies. I will be the one producing the installation files for
our new stable release series, 2.4, which should be due out within a
month, if developer demotivation is minimized. I, actually, was going
to work on preparing the equation editor and display system to work on
Windows tonight, but reading and dealing with these emails has simply
been tiring, to say the least. I'm not the vengeful type, nor the
power-hungry, but I'm the person most willing and possibly best equipped
to help you with this, and you (speaking to everyone who has posted in
this thread, save for marc and alan) aren't exactly getting me fired up
about what I do for AbiWord.

Thank you very much for reading this, and hopefully you will understand
where I am coming from. This is not an adversarial relationship - when
we work together, we achieve more. That's the whole idea behind open
source, I think. It's what drives me to contribute, and I suspect it
also drives the other AbiWord developers. Respect and cooperation,
that's all we ask for.

Ryan

P.S.

>** the XP help file says without explanation that some apps
>may not run properly from limited user account. MS Office
>doesn't want competition?? I run abiword on my *nix & w2k,
>it's my school age son with the XPmc2005 limited user problem.
>
>
I don't believe they target us specifically - they also say that their
Flight Simulator 2004 may not run as a limited user. Go figure. We
have no animosity here towards Microsoft - if you look at our download
graphs, they provide our highest amounts of downloads.

We do sometimes get frustrated, but that's not due to any secret evil
plan. Leave those to the conspiracy theorists.

>/poogimmal
>
>
>

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Received on Thu Aug 18 07:35:19 2005