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I just downloaded Ubuntu 13.04 earlier and was trying it out. At least I know you can surf all installed applications with the dash home if you click the icons at the bottom, you're not forced to memorize all the names of everything.

Anyway...

I'm used to Windows, where programs have their own ways of storing passwords--and they do, and I've never had a hard time. It makes me comfortable. I'm very *un*comfortable with the idea of something storing pretty much ALL my passwords, I prefer them to be separate entities.

Is a keyring really necessary for programs like Chrome and Firefox? Can I just disable the keyring altogether and still have Chrome remember my passwords, or when I use Ubuntu, will I forever have to type a password for it to automatically type a password? To me, typing a password so I don't have to type a password just doesn't make any sense.

I'm confused. I never remember having to do this when I installed Linux before.

And yes, I have the login password the same as the keyring password but I still have to log into both each time.

Kizzume
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  • Yes, you can disable the gnome key ring if you like. See also some of the links in the above answer. – Panther Jul 15 '13 at 15:53
  • When you say "yes", do you mean "yes, Chrome can still save passwords without the keyring" or "yes, the keyring is required to save passwords on most programs"? – Kizzume Jul 15 '13 at 18:32
  • You do not need to run keyring at all, other programs will store their passwords. – Panther Jul 15 '13 at 18:51

1 Answers1

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Why is necessary?

GNOME Keyring is a daemon application designed to take care of the user's security credentials, such as user names and passwords. The sensitive data is encrypted and stored in a keyring file in the user's home folder. The default keyring uses the login password for encryption, so users don't need to remember yet another password.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME_Keyring.

How to disable?

You can use next command in terminal:

sudo chmod -x /usr/bin/gnome-keyring

After this, Chrome, Firefox and others can still save passwords without the keyring, but these are vulnerable.

If you want to re-enable, use +x instead -x in the same command.

Community
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Radu Rădeanu
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  • Is the keyring required for Chrome and Firefox to save passwords? I didn't ask for a generic answer that says "the keyring saves credentials". I KNOW it saves credentials, that should be apparent by my original post. I'm asking whether other programs can STILL save their OWN passwords WITHOUT the keyring. Can I still save Chrome passwords WITHOUT the keyring, or are they absolutely linked? – Kizzume Jul 15 '13 at 18:29
  • Is required for Chrome and Firefox too. ...If I can open your Chrome or Firefox, I can see/check all your saved passwords. – Radu Rădeanu Jul 15 '13 at 18:33
  • So there's no way around the keyring if I want Chrome to save passwords? What version of Linux can I use that doesn't have this, or is it just part of the Linux ecosystem now and I should just stick with Windows if I don't want to type passwords so I can avoid typing passwords? – Kizzume Jul 15 '13 at 18:39
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    Chrome and Firefox can still save passwords without the keyring – Radu Rădeanu Jul 15 '13 at 18:39
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    Oh. Ok. Good. Thank goodness. That was my concern. I guess I don't quite understand so many people's paranoia about stuff that's on one's local machine. Are people expecting to get robbed or something? Why should I care if someone who steals my computer might be able to steal my credentials? They've stolen my computer. I don't have a laptop or tablet, so I guess it's not as important to me. – Kizzume Jul 15 '13 at 18:40
  • @Kizzume So, you are free to disable it if you don't care that others could use your online accounts... Also you should accept the answer if it was useful. – Radu Rădeanu Jul 15 '13 at 18:54
  • I marked your answer as the answer, thanks for the info. Your very last response makes no sense, you're acting as though people's computers being stolen is a huge problem, like it's an epidemic or something. – Kizzume Jul 16 '13 at 12:41
  • @Kizzume I invite you in Romania :)) – Radu Rădeanu Jul 16 '13 at 12:44
  • :) Fair enough, I don't know what it's like there. – Kizzume Jul 16 '13 at 12:45