6 ms·

I wonder why we can’t have pip packages be published by username or organization, like pip install google/tensorflow It would significantly reduce the att

I wonder why we can’t have pip packages be published by username or organization, like pip install google/tensorflow It would significantly reduce the attack space

louislang 4y ago
npm does something similar with their scoped packages. It fixes the problem for the top level packages, but you'd still have to contend with the transitive dependencies written by smaller organizations or individual contributors. In this case, you have to guarantee that no one involved in the dependency chain ever typos anything.
- jerpint 4y ago
  This is true, and wouldn’t remove the entire space of attack, but would still limit it to some extent.
  - louislang 4y ago
    Oh absolutely. Unless everyone wants to be cool and stop publishing malware, gotta take a defense in depth approach here.
- collinmanderson 4y ago
  "you'd still have to contend with the transitive dependencies written by smaller organizations or individual contributors" - generally these are the higher risk dependencies anyway and should probably be used with extra caution anyway.
YetAnotherNick 4y ago
It gives false sense of security. What about google_official/tensorflow
- germandiago 4y ago
  It would still be an improvement if companies make clear what their namespace is.
- cozzyd 4y ago
  google.com/tensorflow (and you'd have to prove you own google.com) not perfect, but better.
  - weberer 4y ago
    I've always been a fan of how Java packages do it where the TLD is first.
    - __warlord__ 4y ago
      TIL https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase/codeconventions-namingconventions.html https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase/codeconventi...
- comprev 4y ago
  Perhaps something like Docker hub where "official" images are like "/_/nginx" So "_google/tensorflow" would be official. "google/tensorflow" would not be (plus it would be reserved by default to avoid confusion).
- nine_k 4y ago
  What if the package is signed by a key available at google.com/pypi/key ? Actually it should be not just a key but a whole TLS certificate, with references to a CA, activity dates, etc.
  - sedatk 4y ago
    How would you know where you’d find that key?
    - lolinder 4y ago
blibble 4y ago
Maven had this 20 years ago quite why python refuses to learn from anything that went before it I really dont know “Namespaces are one honking great idea — let's do more of those!”
permo-w 4y ago
one of main issues I have with java is how messy it is to import external modules. python is a breath of fresh air comparitively. introducing this kind of thing as mandatory is a step away from that

I wonder why we can’t have pip packages be published by username or organization, like pip install google/tensorflow It would significantly reduce the attack space

louislang 4y ago

npm does something similar with their scoped packages. It fixes the problem for the top level packages, but you'd still have to contend with the transitive dependencies written by smaller organizations or individual contributors. In this case, you have to guarantee that no one involved in the dependency chain ever typos anything.

jerpint 4y ago
This is true, and wouldn’t remove the entire space of attack, but would still limit it to some extent.
- louislang 4y ago
  Oh absolutely. Unless everyone wants to be cool and stop publishing malware, gotta take a defense in depth approach here.
collinmanderson 4y ago
"you'd still have to contend with the transitive dependencies written by smaller organizations or individual contributors" - generally these are the higher risk dependencies anyway and should probably be used with extra caution anyway.

YetAnotherNick 4y ago

It gives false sense of security. What about google_official/tensorflow

germandiago 4y ago
It would still be an improvement if companies make clear what their namespace is.
cozzyd 4y ago
google.com/tensorflow (and you'd have to prove you own google.com) not perfect, but better.
- weberer 4y ago
  I've always been a fan of how Java packages do it where the TLD is first.
  - __warlord__ 4y ago
    TIL https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase/codeconventions-namingconventions.html https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase/codeconventi...
comprev 4y ago
Perhaps something like Docker hub where "official" images are like "/_/nginx" So "_google/tensorflow" would be official. "google/tensorflow" would not be (plus it would be reserved by default to avoid confusion).
nine_k 4y ago
What if the package is signed by a key available at google.com/pypi/key ? Actually it should be not just a key but a whole TLS certificate, with references to a CA, activity dates, etc.
- sedatk 4y ago
  How would you know where you’d find that key?
  - lolinder 4y ago

blibble 4y ago

Maven had this 20 years ago quite why python refuses to learn from anything that went before it I really dont know “Namespaces are one honking great idea — let's do more of those!”

permo-w 4y ago

one of main issues I have with java is how messy it is to import external modules. python is a breath of fresh air comparitively. introducing this kind of thing as mandatory is a step away from that