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When using System Settings there is clearly NO WAY of configuring, for example, the KDM as a regular user - because of lack of access... It even doesn't ask any kind of password! It would be nice if there where a button like "Grant ROOT access" which would ask for the Root (or SUDO) password and then give access to these settings.
Same with Dolphin - when I copy a file from one location to another, but it is impossible because of "access denied" error - it should try to throw a message asking the root (or sudo) password (but only for this exact action! As a security restriction... Or with a some sort of time out) with buttons "Retry as Root" and "Cancel"
There is a similar possibility, implemented when trying to add new fonts to fonts:/System - it asks your root password - something like this would be appreciated when copying some files...

This is solved by one of many service menus.
But having it by default would be nice.
Also my distro of choice Chakra (Arch + KDEmod) has this service menu installed by default. I'm not sure about the others.

Even after installing these service menus - I don't have this functionality under System Settings... And also I still need to open a new window to copy my file (with Konqueror instead of Dolphin, but it isn't really a problem...)
And I still can't open the same folder where I am, only one of the subfolders...

Evengard wrote:Even after installing these service menus - I don't have this functionality under System Settings... And also I still need to open a new window to copy my file (with Konqueror instead of Dolphin, but it isn't really a problem...)
And I still can't open the same folder where I am, only one of the subfolders...

Agree with opening the folder and subfolder...
But if you right click on a folder and choose Root actions you can then choose open in Dolphin and you have what you asked for...
Still I agree with that idea that this should be part of default Dolphin settings.

+1 to this idea - this should be native feature of KDE 4

btw. Primoz: where can I find this service menu for the purpose of temporary workaround?

Link to the Root Action Servicemenu:
http://kde-apps.org/content/show.php/Root+Actions+Servicemenu?content=48411

@RRH
Unfortunately it seems not to work with the new KDE 4.4 KHotNewStuff-service-menu-installer (I've writtn it with PPenz ), so you have to look at kde-apps.org. Please try to contact the author. He should add two simple scripts called install-it.sh and deinstall.sh, then it would work. Some service-menus do not have any installation script or only complicate interactive ones.

This things opens a NEW instance of Dolphin anyway... It would be interesting to make the CURRENT one become Root... And just for one action, or timing out...
And all these variants with service menus won't work with System Settings

For System Settings stuff, this should be fully-implemented by 4.5 through the new KAuth class (makes it brain-dead-simple for developers to add an administrator mode button to the appropriate KCMs, and uses PolicyKit to boot).

The dolphin option, on the other hand, doesn't exist. :/

Is it possible to implement such thing via this same Kauth class for dolphin? I think it would be possible... So why not?
The idea is still valid...

I am pretty sure this is already being implemented for Dolphin using Kauth.

I hope so

with opensuse's systemsettings, clicking on the kdm control module prompts for the root passwd.

So it should be easy to raise priviliges for such control modules: simply ad kdesu to the the command in the corresponding .desktop file.

As for Dolphin: right click on a directory and choose [open with ?? filemanager (administration mode) to open it as root in dolphin.

For that one, i would like to see dolhin prompt me for a passwd when i left click on any file or directory that needs other permissions than my current ones...

Apparently it is only with OpenSuse... Not in the default KDE

If I recall correctly the reason is that there was a patch to allow password support in system settings, but it was rejected because the KDE developers were already working kauth support so they didn't want to incude the patch just to remove it again later. openSUSE and perhaps some other distributions decided to use it in their own builds anyway.