Bug#481663: hal: root cannot invoke methods on power management interface

Package: hal
Version: 0.5.11-1
Severity: normal

Hi there,

I'm trying to build hal power management support into acpi-support, but
when I try to call the SystemPowerManagement interface I get:

# dbus-send --system --print-reply --dest=org.freedesktop.Hal
/org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/computer
org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.SystemPowerManagement.Suspend int32:0

Error org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.AccessDenied: A security policy in
place prevents this sender from sending this message to this recipient,
see message bus configuration file (rejected message had interface
"org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.SystemPowerManagement" member "Suspend"
error name "(unset)" destination "org.freedesktop.Hal")

To make this work I have to edit /etc/dbus-1/system.d/hal.conf and add:

<policy user="root">
  <allow send_interface="org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.SystemPowerManagement"/>
</policy>

Is there a specific reason that root can't suspend or shut down the
system through Hal, or is this just an omission? Anyway, I would like
this to work, so that I can make acpi-support do its thing. 

Cheers,
Bart