On Sat, Jun 01, 2019 at 11:06:42AM +0200, Andreas Tille wrote: > > This appears to be a bug in light-locker specifically, which is the > > default screen lock program with XFCE with lightdm. See, for instance: > > > > https://github.com/the-cavalry/light-locker/issues/114 > > > > Switching to another greeter from the default gtk-greeter appears to help > > according to that bug, which may mean that the bug is actually in > > lightdm-gtk-greeter. There doesn't appear to be a Debian bug for this; it > > might be a good idea to open one against light-locker (or, if you confirm > > switching to slick-greeter per that bug, lightdm-gtk-greeter). > > Yes, please file the bug (and may be report the bug number here). We > should not release with a broken greeter as default since we can not > assume that normal users will find out the "switch VT trick" and instead > will assume the box is frozen.
While I greatly prefer slick-greeter (I use it exclusively since the first day I reviewed+sponsored the package), I recall it doesn't support a11y anywhere as well as the default greeter. This is old data, though -- as my wetware doesn't require a11y, I wouldn't even know what to look at. But, the culprit is light-locker. In general, it's in such a buggy state that I believe it shouldn't be in the distribution at all, much less a default of any kind. After it replaced xscreensaver[1] as the xfce's dependency, I went into some pretty heated arguments, but then stormed off and ignored the issue. Just some issues with light-locker. INACCURATE, BASED ON AN OLD VERSION, AND NOT RESEARCHED WELL AT ALL. (Ie, areas to look at, not proper reports) * it doesn't show anyone is logged in -- lock screen is pixel-to-pixel identical as the login screen * breaks when the *DM is not lightdm. A package dependency doesn't mean that lightdm is running or used to start that session. * breaks with multiseat (as in: concurrent same-uid logins from different seats, not the systemd meaning) * breaks if ssh -X into the box is used with some programs * breaks with any non-standard VT assignment (Some of the issues might have been already fixed.) At the time of the xscreensaver debacle, there was no sane alternative (candidates depended on 80% of GNOME, offered no feedback nor discoverable controls to the user, etc). There _is_ a wonderful alternative now: xfce4-screensaver, which seems to work perfectly[2] -- but alas, it's not in Buster. Using unstable myself, I'm not sure what to recommend for Buster. But if the bugs can't get fixed in late freeze, and slick-greeter is not enough, I's light-locker not the greeter I'd propose switching out of. Meow! [1]. When jwz planted a time-bomb in xscreensaver. [2]. There was an issue with taking lots of CPU even when the monitor has been long since powered down, but that's now fixed. -- ⢀⣴⠾⠻⢶⣦⠀ Latin: meow 4 characters, 4 columns, 4 bytes ⣾⠁⢠⠒⠀⣿⡁ Greek: μεου 4 characters, 4 columns, 8 bytes ⢿⡄⠘⠷⠚⠋ Runes: ᛗᛖᛟᚹ 4 characters, 4 columns, 12 bytes ⠈⠳⣄⠀⠀⠀⠀ Chinese: 喵 1 character, 2 columns, 3 bytes <-- best!