[laumars]

I get that you’re not storing something long term, but you are still storing it even if it is short term and thus presenting a risk. And you are still sharing secrets between applications thus presenting a risk. And all your suggestion is doing is offering a kludge around a solution you’ve already said is crappy, rather than switching to a robust and battle tested solution that literally every other platform already supports.

If you want to pass secrets securely between applications then you use a secrets manager. It’s how Linux and macOS work. It’s how secure systems in the cloud works. And thus it makes complete sense for Windows to follow suit. We aren’t talking about some theoretical concept here. It is absolutely how passing secrets between applications should be done.

If you have scepticism about this approach then you need to read up in this topic rather than pushing for a half baked kludge around something you’ve already acknowledged isn’t fit for security.

Sorry if this sounds blunt but this is a solved problem you’re trying to re-engineer and your solution is worse than the industry standard in a number of ways which I’ve already highlighted. And ironically it isn’t even just worse for security but also worse for usability well (you’re creating administrative overhead with the user approving safe applications. This wouldn’t be needed with a secrets manager since each application only has visibility of its own enclave). And if you remember back to your first post, usability was the entire reason you designed this solution in the first place.

[badsectoracula]

I do not know why you mention Windows, i never referred to any specific platform (you mention Linux, Linux does not actually have what you describe because Linux is a kernel and what you describe is something that would live on the userland - the userland heavily relies on what software is installed and many setups, like mine, do not have such a thing).

What i refer is how to provide a more secure approach to to THE SAME THING that people are already doing with clipboard copy/paste without breaking the versatility of the clipboard, workflows or even existing applications and can be supported with minimal changes in existing applications and pretty much zero re-learning by users. It is about being able to copy/paste stuff securely anything that can already be copy/pasted between applications and not just passwords or other stuff you'd need to store permanently. It can even be made to work in a backwards compatible way - with some additional though minimal effort from the user - for applications that do not support the functionality.

What you refer to is having a different workflow, have applications add explicit support for the specific data mentioned and be accessed in a different way and up to the last reply you were referring to permanent storage.

You ask people to change how they use software, i ask them to use a different menu option for sensitive stuff. What exactly do you think is the more likely to happen?

(well, assuming anything would happen, in practice most likely nothing will change)

I do not have skepticism about what you refer to, i do not even think what you refer to is wrong for the stuff it is intended for, i am just not referring to the same stuff you do.

[laumars]

> I do not know why you mention Windows, i never referred to any specific platform

Because this is already a solved problem on all popular platforms aside from Windows.

Plus others earlier in this discussion singled Windows out too (likely for the same reason I cited above).

> Linux does not actually have what you describe because Linux is a kernel and what you describe is something that would live on the userland - the userland heavily relies on what software is installed

It’s pretty normal for people to talk about Linux as a computing platform. You know this yourself so making the “it’s just a kernel” argument is next level pedantry.

> and many setups, like mine, do not have such a thing

I’d put money on you having one installed and not even realising it (eg gnome-keyring, which is a dependency for many desktop applications even without having gnome installed)

> What i refer is how to provide a more secure approach to to THE SAME THING that people are already doing with clipboard copy/paste without breaking the versatility of the clipboard

I understood what your approach was. The issue isn’t that I don’t understand it. The issue is that you are unwilling to accept the last 20 years of development in this field.

I mean have you never even used password management in Firefox / Chrome? Avoiding the need of clipboard for sharing secrets is a security and usability feature. Your solution is terrible in comparison and this is precisely why browsers have integrated password stores.

> What you refer to is having a different workflow, have applications add explicit support for the specific data mentioned and be accessed in a different way and up to the last reply you were referring to permanent storage.

Your solution was to add a new API. You stated that explicitly. You then said users should authorise which applications have authority to use that API, that’s a new workflow too. The standard approach (ie that way the industry works, this isn’t something I’ve just made up) allows applications to communicate directly to your secrets store. This doesn’t add a new workflow, it removes an existing one entirely.

Plus you still need to copy your passwords from somewhere to use your API so why bother with it in the first place? It’s literally just adding in a process for the sake of it. Except that process is insecure, a usability nightmare and contradicts decades of established solutions in this precise domain.

The fact that you’re refusing to even look into this concept is astonishing tbh

> am just not referring to the same stuff you do.

indeed, your stubbornly clinging onto a terrible idea and rejecting decades of industry best practices.

The idea you’re proposing has already been superseded by years of research and development towards much better solutions. And you can install them right now if you wanted. I’m not making this shit up.

[badsectoracula]

> It’s pretty normal for people to talk about Linux as a computing platform. You know this yourself so making the “it’s just a kernel” argument is next level pedantry.

In this case the "pedantry" makes sense because...

> I’d put money on you having one installed and not even realising it (eg gnome-keyring, which is a dependency for many desktop applications even without having gnome installed)

...i do not have such a thing. I use plain Xorg with Window Maker and i have removed anything i deemed unnecessary from my PC.

> The issue isn’t that I don’t understand it.

No you do not understand it because you wrote:

> I mean have you never even used password management in Firefox / Chrome? Avoiding the need of clipboard for sharing secrets is a security and usability feature. Your solution is terrible in comparison and this is precisely why browsers have integrated password stores.

My solution is to *NOT* use the clipboard *exactly* because it is not secure for the reason mentioned in the *linked article*! Which is why i mention a *second* API to exist *alongside* the current one. The only reason i use the term "clipboard" is because from a usability perspective (for both the users and, for the most part, the programmers) the use will be the same so it is the closest to understand.

> Your solution was to add a new API. You stated that explicitly.

Yes i did. I explicitly wrote that new applications can use it, existing applications can be made to support it and with some minimal effort from the user even existing applications that do not support it can be made to do it.

> You then said users should authorise which applications have authority to use that API, that’s a new workflow too.

No i never mentioned that, in fact i never even mentioned how that part would work. Here, this is what i originally wrote: "that you can lock as tight as you want with explicit permissions for reading it, notifications for writing to it and whatever else you want."

> The standard approach (ie that way the industry works, this isn’t something I’ve just made up) allows applications to communicate directly to your secrets store.

Because...

> Plus you still need to copy your passwords from somewhere

...i do not...

> to use your API so why bother with it in the first place?

...refer to just passwords.

This is about *ANYTHING* that can go on the clipboard that can be sensitive. This is about stuff that is temporary. *THIS IS NOT ABOUT PERMANENT STORAGE*.

I already wrote that stuff, gave examples and yet you claim that i am the one who is "stubbornly clinging" to my idea.

How about following the HN commenting guideline about "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith" and using your imagination to try and understand what i refer to instead of calling me stubborn?

If you do that you may realize that what i describe isn't even incompatible with secure stores and can be functionality that is provided by them.

[laumars]

> ..i do not have such a thing. I use plain Xorg with Window Maker and i have removed anything i deemed unnecessary from my PC.

So you don’t use a web browser then? I guess your posts here must appear by magic.

> This is about ANYTHING that can go on the clipboard that can be sensitive.

Hence why I’ve repeatedly used the term “secrets” and not “passwords”.

The password manager example was just an illustration because this entire concept seemed weirdly alien to you. But secrets stores are not just for passwords and nor do they need to hold secrets for long durations either.

Again, I implore you to actually do some reading on this topic before making daft assumptions. Look into Hashicorp Vault for example. Now I’m not suggesting everyone should manage their own Vault instance; but if you’re going to create a new API anyway then you might as well abstract that around similar tooling which is managed by the OS rather than configured by the user. I mean why reinvent the wheel (and badly too) when this approach is proven?

> How about following the HN commenting guideline about "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize.

You mean like your pedantry about Linux being a kernel when you knew full well the context that term was used in?

Your ego here is getting in the way of you learning some new technology (well, I say “new” but it really isn’t). This is already the direction the industry has already moved.

[badsectoracula]

> So you don’t use a web browser then? I guess your posts here must appear by magic.

Of course i use a web browser. What i do not have is a generic store like the one you describe - my web browser does not provide an API for other applications in my desktop to access whatever is stored in it.

> Hence why I’ve repeatedly used the term “secrets” and not “passwords”.

And yet you used them explicitly for storing passwords.

> The password manager example was just an illustration because this entire concept seemed weirdly alien to you.

Clearly in your message here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30220104

...you only refer to storing credentials (ie. passwords) and here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30220390

you explicitly refer to "password stores".

Meanwhile from the very beginning, like in here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30220062

i refer to "copying data" and even if it is in the context of passwords, i make explicit in the very first reply i made to you:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30220227

...that i do not refer to just passwords but anything that can be copied to the clipboard and passwords was just an example.

That you think that "concept seemed weirdly alien" to me can only be seen as an indication that you do not read what i write.

> You mean like your pedantry about Linux being a kernel when you knew full well the context that term was used in?

As i already wrote previously, that part was to make it clear that this isn't something you can depend to be there "on Linux" because not everyone's setup has one - like mine.

> Your ego here is getting in the way

Does it really? From my perspective you entered the discussion with a polemic tone and when i tried to explain my position you doubled down, ignoring what i wrote and even started writing that i do not even know what i have installed on my own computer.

[laumars]

> Of course i use a web browser. What i do not have is a generic store like the one you describe - my web browser does not provide an API for other applications in my desktop to access whatever is stored in it.

Well that actually depends on the browser and OS. You’ll find some browsers actually use an existing system API for their password store.

But anyway, I wasn’t suggesting the final solution be a password manager. I just exampled that because you seemed oblivious to the benefits a secrets manager would have and password managers share an overlapping domain.

> > Hence why I’ve repeatedly used the term “secrets” and not “passwords”.

> And yet you used them explicitly for storing passwords.

Not just passwords. Any secrets. I’ve repeatedly said secrets and not passwords. Those secrets could be a password but they could also be private keys / certs and even just sensitive config. I’ve literally used secrets managers for these things too. And it is extremely easy to store any kind of secret because at the most basic level they’re just key value stores with a TTL and encrypted storage engine and secure API for 3rd party applications to query. Literally the end solution one would come to if they took your specs and fleshed them out to a secure and robust natural conclusion.

So yeah, you can put in any data you want.

You’d also know this if you spent even just 5 minutes researching this like I’ve repeatedly suggested.

> you explicitly refer to "password stores".

Yes, as an example of utility because you couldn’t grasp the concept and was too lazy to do any research.

Now that you’ve wrapped your head around the basics go look up Hashicorp Vault and you’ll get a sense for how a secrets manager is much more than just a password manager.

Now think about how that solution could be utilised to solve the same problem you’re identifying. And you’ll finally understand why I keep harping on about it.

> i refer to "copying data" and even if it is in the context of passwords, i make explicit in the very first reply i made to you:

Again, secrets stores aren’t just for passwords.

> That you think that "concept seemed weirdly alien" to me can only be seen as an indication that you do not read what i write.

I’ve been listening to you. But frankly communicating with you is like trying to draw blood from a stone because you keep insisting on having an opinion on a domain you clearly know Jack shit about and then refusing to spend even the smallest amount of time looking into any of the technologies being recommended.

The issue here is 100% you, not me. I build and use these technologies for a living and you clearly haven’t the foggiest on this topic.

> As i already wrote previously, that part was to make it clear that this isn't something you can depend to be there "on Linux" because not everyone's setup has one - like mine.

You could also not install support for the hypothetical API you’re imagining too. So your point here is moot.

This is why I was using Windows as the baseline for the conversation. It saves us from these stupid meta hypotheticals about “what if I chose not to install this thing I just moaned about wanted to install”…

> when i tried to explain my position you doubled down

You tried to tell me that 20 years of security technology didn’t exist. So yes, I did double down on the fact that you were wrong because you were and still are.

Also I love the hypocrisy of the statement that I’m “doubling down” and you’re just “explaining your position”. The way I saw it, you posted an idea, I came up with a better solution and you then doubled down that your crappy alternative was better for reasons and then posted a list of misunderstandings.

You’ve also pulled this hypocritical shit a few times too, accusing me of doing the very things youre already doing.

> ignoring what i wrote

I addressed your points literally. If you’d spent even 5 minutes researching this field you’d realise that.

And I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve asked you to read up on this topic. It’s not an unreasonable request on my part.

> and even started writing that i do not even know what i have installed on my own computer.

Given you don’t even know what this technology is, I find it hard to believe that you’d know if it was installed or not.

Plus as a Linux developer and sysadmin myself, I know full well that it’s impossible to audit every single package that goes into a desktop installation (a minimal headless image is possible but not a multi-purpose desktop installation). And I’m the kind of person who has spent decades compiling frameworks, drivers and desktop software from source so if I can’t memorise every single dependency then there’s no hope for you. The fact you think it is possible honestly says more about where you sit on the Dunning-Kruger scale than it does about me.

Honestly, drop the ego and look this stuff up. It’s pretty cool technology. It wouldn’t suit your needs perfectly in its “off the shelf” state but it is the backend architecture that would best realise your vision. But until you do any research of your own you’ll find that we will just keep going round in circles.