As requested by Thaddaeus Tintenfisch, I have reverted to the original version of files /etc/sudoers and /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop and I have started a new xfce4 session from my text console. The command was "dbus-launch startxfce4" .
File ~/.cache/upstart/startxfce4.log is attached. I fully agree with thad-fisch that launching nm-applet with sudo is NOT the right approach. Neverthess it is a workaround which seems to be working perfectly. I have tested said workaround by enabling and disabling networking and/or wifi . I have connected to several different routers and wifi-hotspots and every thing works as expected. My idea of trying to launch nm-applet with root privileges comes from the observation that the nm-applet is working as expected, when the Xserver session is started from the graphical login screen and not from a text mode user console. Moreover I would in principle agree with the following statement : "If only a single Xserver instance is active it is reasonable to give the concerned user full rights on network management; on the other hand, when multiple Xserver sessions can be started by different users, it is wiser to avoid that anyone other than root may exercise full control on the network manager." So IN PRINCIPLE ... the issue IS NOT A BUG . In PRACTICE a laptop computer is not a server and only one person is usually active on the system, even if he might have launched multiple instances of the Xserver. ** Attachment added: "startxfce4.log" https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xfce4-session/+bug/1422375/+attachment/4389651/+files/startxfce4.log -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Bugs, which is subscribed to Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1422375 Title: If the xfce session is started as a regular user, the nm-applet buttons are greyed out and cannot be used To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xfce4-session/+bug/1422375/+subscriptions -- ubuntu-bugs mailing list [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-bugs
