4 ms·
I was just recently looking for a simple password manager for Ubuntu, and Seahorse is so close. It unlocks with your login key so if you're logged in you don't
by acabal 14y ago
I was just recently looking for a simple password manager for Ubuntu, and Seahorse is so close. It unlocks with your login key so if you're logged in you don't have to keep entering a master password each time you need to retrieve a password; it stores everything in one easily-copyable encrypted file; and it's a core part of GNOME. But you can't store any metadata about the password, like a username! And that makes it completely useless as a serious password storage interface. What good is a password if you can't easily store the username along with it?
If only someone would update Seahorse to store optional metadata along with passwords...
- zx2c4 14y agoHopefully you're able to fashion pass into storing the data you want? I don't like using my login key as a passphrase; seems flimsy, and I don't like having to use PAM tie-ins and whatnot when I change the system password. GPG has gpg-agent, so that it will keep the key decrypted for a set amount of time (or until logout, if you prefer), so this has pretty much the same function. Most importantly, a simple GPG file is not an obscure file format.
- acabal 14y agoPass seems excellent but for me is also almost-there, because it doesn't unlock when I log in and I have to mess around with public/private keypairs. I prefer using passphrases because I travel a lot and if I lose my private key, it would be a monstrous hassle to get a backup private key in my hands securely. `gpg -c` is my go-to. For me, unlock on login is essential. If someone beats me unconscious and steals my computer while I'm in a logged-in session, I have bigger things to worry about than a potentially lost password database. On a tangential note, we as a hacker community really have to work on de-mystifying public/private keypair encryption. It gives me a headache to think about it and I've been a programmer for over a decade. If it does that to me then it's utterly unfathomable to laypeople and they're the ones who could make the most use out of strong encryption, and who could become the champions of privacy and security in the NSA-snooping age. But it's just too hard to explain and use.
- zx2c4 14y agoIf you want to unlock on log-in, just have your gpg key unlocked by your login password. Gnome keychain is capable of this. Your request is a definite possibility. I prefer having the key + passphrase over just a passphrase. It makes it more difficult for the information to leak. That said, if you'd like a pass with a gpg -c mode, it shouldn't be hard to add. I could do this, or you could send a nice git formatted patch. Let me know.
- acabal 14y agoAnything is possible... but a program has to make it easy for us, i.e. anticipate potentially popular use-cases and cater to them. Otherwise non-techies will ignore the program and techies will roll our own simple solution instead of taking the time to explore and customize someone else's--just like I already have :) (Although as a CLI program I suppose the argument could be made that non-techies will ignore it on principle anyway...)
- zx2c4 14y agoSorry, I should have written more clearly: the functionality you want -- gpg unlocked by login password -- is already available, implemented, and easy to use. Look around on your distribution. It exists.
- maxs 14y agoIf you're still looking for a password manager for Ubuntu, I really liked using KeepassX. It has password categories, lots of metadata. However, it doesn't unlock with the system.. :(
- zx2c4 14y agoKeepass is exactly the bloated overweight system I was trying to avoid. pass is available for Ubuntu.