Re: LYNX-DEV Authorization file/db

[Klaus Weide]

On Sun, 16 Nov 1997, Subir Grewal wrote:

> One thing I'd like to have, is an .lynx-auth file (or the like) where I
> can store frequently used usernames/password combinations for certain
> web-sites.  For instance, I read the NY Times on the web now (since I'm no
> longer in NY) and it's inconvenient to have to provide the password every
> session.  Does this seem like something that would make sense, or would be
> doable?

Doable - probably.  In principle it should be possible to initialize the
structures that Lynx uses to keep track of realm <-> authinfo on startup
from a file.  (I am not very familiar with those structures or the parts
of the code dealing with them.)

Would it make sense - I guess that depnds on whether you often use such
sites :).  Since this is potentially sensitive information, of course one
would have to be careful not to make the information visible to other
processes, and to make sure the right file is being read.  Maybe this
feature shouldn't be available by default.

Since auth info for one site (the first one that requests it) can be
specified on the command line, you might be able to automate the process
externally, by using appropriate aliases or scripts.  Although having the
auth info on the command line may expose it to others, so this probably
isn't good enough for multi user systems.

  Klaus
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