Re: Multi-user cliboard

[Matthew Newhall <odinson-gnome flatclub ml org>]

On Sun, 4 Oct 1998, Eric Guenterberg wrote:

> What about shared cliboards? How about setting unix style
> permission/ownership to each clipboard so some clipboards could be shared
> between collaborators? maybe make the daemon system-wide rather than
> per-user. the gnome-clipboards could then "log in" and show the various
> clipboards available to the user...
> 
> --Eric Guenterberg
> 
> 
Hello

Shared clipboards sounds like a good idea(cautious optimism).  I think
there should be a gcb for each gnome session. Not everyone will be able to
be part of, or want to be a part of a networked gcb session. They should
be able to take atvantage of gcb's archiving abilities anyway.  It would
be a good thing if you could log one already running gcb into another.
Perhaps a login/password(can be command line for easy atomation) and being
on each others accptible clients list on both sides would be enough on the
being logged into side.  And of course there would have to be the
negosiation about which one can see the contents of which or it is visible
to all.  No I don't think this should be all that scalable. 

On second thought the user should be able to configure any gcb settings
from a menu in gclipboard.  Obviously once gclipboard is shut off, gcb
will retain settings.  The user could set a bit for each data type as to
whether it is visiable to others or not.  A UNIX-like permission system
would be difficult.  The original idea here was to just to make paste
requests whenever data was cut or copied, and in turn archive the data.
This pasted data won't have any permissions to start with and would have
to be bitmasked to be given any.  People may cut or copy not realizing
that their data was vonarible to others examining it.  This should not be
designed for anything but one persons multiple X/Gnome sessions, or two
maybe three user having access to each other's stuff. Any
networking ability should be off by default each session, and lots of ugly
warnings should appear in gcb or gclipboard when networking is turned on.
Only root should be able to turn gcb's networking ablility on, to prevent
users from comprimising otherwise secure enviorments.  How many times have
you copied more than you wanted to, by accident!

And of course you have the issue of somone sniffing the connection between
two gcb's and copying the data.  A clueless user can get him/her/itself in
trouble by not being aware of the security risk.  Any net traffic will
have to be encripted.  Somthing I am definatly not qualified to do.

Matthew Newhall