I first saw this after the updates to Lubuntu 14.04 yesterday morning March 13 10:15GMT. In my case it is only the Lubuntu 32bit system that is affected, not Xubuntu or Ubuntu both of which are 64 bit.
I posted the problem to Ubuntuforums http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2210892&p=12956114#post12956114 and gave my workaround for the problem, ie changing the line Exec=synaptic-pkexec in /usr/share/applications/synaptic.desktop to Exec=gksudo synaptic but this very much a workaround which should not be needed. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to policykit-1 in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1288786 Title: pkexec does not launch graphical authentication Status in “policykit-1” package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Bug description: Installed Trusty Tahr Lubuntu Beta1 version and added xubuntu desktop. In buth desktops, I tried to launch synaptic to install some packages. If I try to launch from menu, nothing seems to happen. From a terminal, I ran pkexec "/usr/sbin/synaptic" and saw that it asks for password in the terminal window, instead of popping up an authentication window like previous Ubuntu version did. That was why I saw no authentication request when launching from menu.. I have a workaround)launching from Terminal window), but this should be fixed before release. ralph@minnie:~$ cat /etc/lsb-release DISTRIB_ID=Ubuntu DISTRIB_RELEASE=14.04 DISTRIB_CODENAME=trusty DISTRIB_DESCRIPTION="Ubuntu Trusty Tahr (development branch)" ralph@minnie:~$ pkexec --version pkexec version 0.105 Thanks To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/policykit-1/+bug/1288786/+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