I don't think it's valid to assume that any user that has installed the samba package manually knows enough to install libpam-smbpass or manage the passwords themselves. In this day and age, the web abounds with many "tutorials" about all aspects of Ubuntu, most of which are grossly out of date or woefully inaccurate. It is entirely possible that the user has manually installed samba but knows next to nothing about its operation.
In my case, I installed samba in advance because I knew that the folder sharing function in Nautilus requires it, but I didn't know that libpam- smbpass is also required. After several reboots and /etc/init.d/smbd restarts, I started hunting on the web for solutions and discovered that I needed libpam-smbpass. If an experienced user can use pam-auth-update to avoid the use of libpam-smbpass, then I think installing it all the time is the safest approach. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to nautilus-share in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1096661 Title: Folder Sharing dialog does not install libpam-smbpass if samba is already installed Status in “nautilus-share” package in Ubuntu: New Bug description: If you open the Folder Sharing dialog in Nautilus and click "Share this folder" while neither the samba nor libpam-smbpass packages are installed, then Nautilus automatically prompts you to install samba and then libpam-smbpass. However, if samba is already installed and libpam-smbpass is not, Nautilus does NOT prompt you to install libpam- smbpass. Rather, it happily allows you to enable sharing on the folder, which results in a broken configuration because it is impossible for any user to authenticate to access the folder without libpam-smbpass installed. Expected behaviour: If either samba or libpam-smbpass are not installed, Nautilus should prompt you to install the missing ones. Actual behaviour: If samba is installed and libpam-smbpass is not, Nautilus does not prompt you to install libpam-smbpass and users are unable to authenticate to the shared folder. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04 Package: nautilus-share 0.7.3-1ubuntu2 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-35.55-generic 3.2.34 Uname: Linux 3.2.0-35-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.0.1-0ubuntu15.1 Architecture: amd64 Date: Sun Jan 6 10:57:57 2013 DistributionChannelDescriptor: # This is a distribution channel descriptor # For more information see http://wiki.ubuntu.com/DistributionChannelDescriptor canonical-oem-somerville-precise-amd64-20120703-2 InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 "Precise" - Build amd64 LIVE Binary 20120703-15:08 MarkForUpload: True ProcEnviron: TERM=xterm PATH=(custom, no user) LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: nautilus-share UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nautilus-share/+bug/1096661/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp