Ben Collins-Sussman wrote:
>
> On Jan 5, 2005, at 2:19 PM, Peter N. Lundblad wrote:
>
>> I am
>> actually +1 on changing the default. This also sends a signal that we are
>> taking security seriously.
>>
>
> I'd be okay with this also.
>
> But we'd better be ready for a slew of newbies asking us how to make
> subversion stop asking for their password. I predict it will jump into
> the top 10 FAQs on the users@ list.
I'm sure it would, but I too think it'd be worth it anyway. The default
isn't too hard to change and people will at least have had the
opportunity to think about the trade-off they're making, even if most
still change the setting and forget about it. If it proves a big issue
then the password prompt can be made to give advise about the reason it
keeps appearing, and how to stop it.
> We may be gaining more security by default, but we're trading it for a
> chunk of convenience and user-friendliness.
Certainly convenience. Whether it is actually friendly to your users
(particularly those unfamiliar enough with subversion or security issues
to wonder what's happening to their password) to store their passwords
in plain text on any computer they happen to be working on is a matter
of debate.
I have a fairly strongly held view that end users have a right to expect
that software will be secure by default. It is usually only the
application developers who know enough about the systems they're
creating to ask the right questions, and they should do so on behalf of
their users.
John
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Received on Wed Jan 5 22:36:47 2005