Package: libairspy0
Version: 1.0.9-4
Severity: normal
X-Debbugs-Cc: dd5...@darc.de
The package of libairspy0 contained in Debian Bullseye (1.0.9-4)
introduced new udev rules that dropped the previous "plugdev" group
pattern, and now employs the new "uaccess" tagging method. This change
means that devices are now owned by root, and the permissions only allow
access by root.

My understanding is that this is now handled by ACLs and the uaccess
tagging now takes care of this for logged in users, but as far as my
research goes, there doesn't seem to be a way to have a similar handling
for any kind of services run by systemd, so any service that is not
running as root (which I'd consider to be desirable) can no longer
access the devices.

Case in point: I am the developer of OpenWebRX, a web-based SDR
application, which runs as a systemd service unit. Many users are
reporting not being able to use their Airspy devices with the software
any more, and it was recently uncovered that the underlying cause is
permission issues. Switching to the udev rules provided by Airspy (which
still use the old "plugdev" pattern, and were part of the Debian package
up until Buster) solves the problem on affected systems.

To me, it seems like the new uaccess approach simply leaves this use
case uncovered, and the current udev rules need further adjustment in
order to cover it. I'm not sure what the correct pattern would be, since
"plugdev" seems to be shunned now. Maybe there should be a new group
specific to the access to SDR devices?

P.S. Please ignore the kernel info below; I am running a docker
container to be able to use the "reportbug" system since this is my
first time reporting a bug to Debian.


-- System Information:
Debian Release: 11.6
  APT prefers stable-updates
  APT policy: (500, 'stable-updates'), (500, 'stable-security'), (500, 'stable')
Architecture: amd64 (x86_64)

Kernel: Linux 5.15.93-1-MANJARO (SMP w/8 CPU threads; PREEMPT)
Kernel taint flags: TAINT_PROPRIETARY_MODULE, TAINT_OOT_MODULE, 
TAINT_UNSIGNED_MODULE
Locale: LANG=C, LC_CTYPE=C.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8), LANGUAGE not set
Shell: /bin/sh linked to /bin/dash
Init: unable to detect

Versions of packages libairspy0 depends on:
ii  libc6         2.31-13+deb11u5
ii  libusb-1.0-0  2:1.0.24-3

libairspy0 recommends no packages.

libairspy0 suggests no packages.

-- no debconf information

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