Provide password feedback when entering password via sudo
Users are sometimes instructed to run commands via sudo
(ex https://tails.boum.org/news/version_4.16/).
The lack of password feedback (******
) make this operation more complex for some users.
man sudoers(5)
clearly states the pros & cons for making this feedback visible :
pwfeedback By default, sudo reads the password like most other Unix programs, by turning off echo until the user hits the return (or enter) key. Some users become confused by this as it appears to them that sudo has hung at this point. When pwfeedback is set, sudo will provide visual feedback when the user presses a key. Note that this does have a security impact as an onlooker may be able to determine the length of the password being en‐ tered. This flag is off by default.
As the welcome screen administrative password option, root terminal (recommended in most of the doc), and screen unlocker already provide this kind of feedback, I think the security cons could be safely ignored. Therefore, setting this option would only make users life easier and UX more consistent.
Edited by geb