desktop-packages team mailing list archive

[Scott Cowles Jacobs <1403717@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

How, exactly, are we to attract new users to Linux, if Evince/Apparmor
puts up an incomprehensible error message for a simple lack of file
extension (in this case), or bombs completely if a user has a non-
standard partition scheme (most data files in a partition outside "/" (a
previous Evince/Apparmor bug/feature that I encountered).

A new user is just going to try to bring up a .pdf file that his health
insurance marketplace sent him, and Evince is going to fail to do so.

He is not going to know anything about AppArmor, or that that is why his
(perfectly good) file won't display.

Assuming that AppArmor is actually a good thing to have (what it does has escaped me so far), then it needs to have more flexible defaults, especially where potential new users are concerned.
If it is somehow VITAL that a document program have a ".pdf" extension,
then we should have GIMP and LibreOffice and Chromium (etc.) also fail with the same incomprehensible error message when confronted with a .pdf file without ".pdf".

Apparently, Evince/AppArmor is more concerned with what the file name
is, than whether the file is a proper .pdf file, which the other
programs have no trouble decoding.

You seem to feel that this is not a bug.

It is, at the very least, an over-sensitivity to an omission that for
many (most?) programs, is no problem at all.

-Scott

-- 
You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop
Packages, which is subscribed to evince in Ubuntu.
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1403717

Title:
  Evince puts up spurious error window when .pdf extension is missing

Status in evince package in Ubuntu:
  Confirmed

Bug description:
  I first noticed this when trying to display a .pdf file that was downloaded from the New York State of Health website.
  Their notices have filenames like "Template030", and have no extension.

  When i couldn't use Evince, I used LibreOffice Writer to display them
  successfully (actually, what came up was LibreOffice Draw, for some
  reason).

  I since took a look at the error window message, and saw that it said
  "Error opening file: Permission denied"

  I used Sakura terminal, and the Nemo Properties context menu option to
  compare the permissions between one of these files, and a file that
  Evince had no trouble displaying, and found NO DIFFERENCE.

  I took another look at the files, and suddenly noted that the file I was trying to display had no extension.
  Surely, it could not be that simple...
  Renamed the file with the same name + ".pdf" 
  Displayed fine.
  Renamed a file that HAD displayed fine to remove ".pdf"
  Error window.

  Perhaps some part of the standard for .pdf files is that they MUST
  have ".pdf" extensions.  I do not know.

  Either way, putting up an error window that says "Permission denied" is unhelpful.
  Perhaps a WARNING window with: "Required file extension .pdf missing."

  Can it be that the extension is the only way Evince can tell that it is a .pdf file?  I don't think so...
  LibreOffice had no problem with it.
  I had no problem also with GIMP.
  Chromium displayed it correctly when I brought it up with file://[filename]

  ---------------------------------------------
  scott@scott-ASUS-M2N68-AM-PLUS:~$ uname -a
  Linux scott-ASUS-M2N68-AM-PLUS 3.16.0-28-generic #37-Ubuntu SMP Mon Dec 8 17:22:00 UTC 2014 i686 athlon i686 GNU/Linux
  scott@scott-ASUS-M2N68-AM-PLUS:~$ lsb_release -dsc
  Ubuntu 14.10
  utopic
  scott@scott-ASUS-M2N68-AM-PLUS:~$ echo $DESKTOP_SESSION
  Lubuntu

  scott@scott-ASUS-M2N68-AM-PLUS:~$ evince --version
  GNOME Document Viewer 3.14.1

  
  -Scott Jacobs

  ProblemType: Bug
  DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.10
  Package: evince 3.14.1-0ubuntu1
  ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.16.0-28.37-generic 3.16.7-ckt1
  Uname: Linux 3.16.0-28-generic i686
  NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
  ApportVersion: 2.14.7-0ubuntu8
  Architecture: i386
  CurrentDesktop: LXDE
  Date: Wed Dec 17 22:47:58 2014
  InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-11-01 (46 days ago)
  InstallationMedia: Lubuntu 14.10 "Utopic Unicorn" - Release i386 (20141022.1)
  SourcePackage: evince
  UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

To manage notifications about this bug go to:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/evince/+bug/1403717/+subscriptions