I setup the smart server running with a user that has no write rights on any directory (not even his home directory) and if I try to checkout something over the smart server I get this error:
bzr: ERROR: Generic bzr smart protocol error: bad response ("failed to open trace file: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '.bzr.log'",)
I asked in #bzr and I've been told the following:
<spiv> buxy: Hmm, it'll be trying to open it in ~/.bzr.log, though.
<buxy> spiv: what is this used for?
<spiv> buxy: debugging
<buxy> spiv: and can't it be disabled?
<spiv> buxy: not at the moment :(
buxy: I can tell you how to hack the source if that helps
<buxy> why not, but it's a bit strange, for something that should be runnable in production :-)
<spiv> buxy: it's a bug :)
* spiv thinks about best way to workaround it
<buxy> is the bug already reported or should I report it so that we have at least an option to disable it in the next release?
<spiv> Please report it.
So here you are. :-)
Also from that conversation:
< buxy> Of course, it's started by inetd with a user that has no right on the repositories
So I've clarified the title of the bug appropriately, because it doesn't affect the the smart server in general, just in certain uses (e.g. bzr+ssh:// in a typical environment where a user has a write home directory works fine).