crux-find-alternate-file-as-root called on local files

[gperaza]

When attempting to open a new file crux-reopen-as-root always calls crux-find-alternate-file-as-root and prompts for password.
I had to remove the hook for find-file.

[bbatsov]

I'm guessing something's off with the permissions of those local files.

[dgtized]

Hmm. I might be wrong, but have recently noticed that whenever I use M-. to jump to system installed elisp, the first load fails due to an attempt to re-open as root.

After a brief investigation I can confirm it with the following sequence:

(xref-find-definitions 'find-file) ;; asks for sudo root privileges
(kill-buffer "files.el.gz") ;; close buffer so find file will trigger again
(remove-hook 'find-file-hook 'crux-reopen-as-root)
(xref-find-definitions 'find-file) ;; jumps directly to files.el.gz with no password prompt
(kill-buffer "files.el.gz") ;; close buffer again
(add-hook 'find-file-hook 'crux-reopen-as-root) ;; re-add offending hook
(xref-find-definitions 'find-file) ;; prompts for sudo root again

I don't believe the hook should be that aggressive about re-opening as root.

[Wilfred]

I've bumped into this too. I fixed it with:

(remove-hook 'find-file-hook #'crux-reopen-as-root)

Currently, opening any file that is read-only and not owned by the current user triggers a root login prompt. This occurs for viewing system files (e.g /etc/fstab), built-in elisp libraries (e.g. simple.el.gz) and simply viewing files owned by other users on a shared system.

This is assuming that the user wants to open the file, as root, and edit it. This isn't always true. If I don't have root on that box, it's pointless. If I just want to view an important system file, it's hazardous to open it as root as I might accidentally make changes that break things.

Changing the default behaviour of find-file like this caught me by surprise. @bbatsov what's the original intent of this feature? Could we make this opt-in, the same way crux keybindings are opt-in?