So you want to see asterisks when entering passwords?

[ralplpcr]

I can't take credit for this - - I found the original on the Tecmint site - - but I can verify that with very slight modification, it does work with Mint!

The trick is to edit one small piece of your visudo file in a terminal editor. I don't have a KDE installation here, but I can verify that this works in Cinnamon & XFCE. Should also work in Mate, since it's also Gnome-based.

1. In a terminal, make a safety copy of your sudoers file

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sudo cp /etc/sudoers /etc/sudoers.bak

2. Open in a terminal editor file

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sudo visudo

3. Using the arrow keys, scroll down until you find the following line: Defaults env_reset
4. Append pwfeedback to that line - - it should now look like this: Defaults env_reset,pwfeedback
5. Press Ctrl+o, then Enter, then Ctrl+x. (Write the file, and exit the program)
6. Now run the following command in your terminal for the changes to start working:

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reset

That should be it! You'll now see ******* appear when you type your password in a terminal.

starpw.jpg

NOTE: The ******* will vanish once the command actually executes. But it is useful to know exactly how many characters you've typed, or to reassure newbies that yes, their keyboard is actually still working.

[MintBean]

I think that would make a nice addition to the standard install.

[Sir Charles]

Just applied this tweak on 18.3 Xfce and got my asterisks
Thanks for sharing!

[MrEen]

I thought about posting this info a few months ago, then realized it does (rather slightly) reduce your security. An observer could now know exactly how long your password is. I decided not to post it nor implement it. I got used to the field staying blank and probably even prefer that as default.

[ralplpcr]

... it does (rather slightly) reduce your security.

Yes, you are correct... though I suppose it all depends on user's circumstances. If your computer is mostly secured away from public view, the risk is pretty minimal. I'd tend to agree that once you're used to no asterisks showing, it's not even something I think about.... but it's nice to have the option?

Though I haven't tried yet, I suspect that simply reversing the procedure to remove that modification would set it back to the default.