Ethereal-dev: Re: Disector categories (Re: [Ethereal-dev] Priv sep in ethereal)

Note: This archive is from the project's previous web site, ethereal.com. This list is no longer active.

Date Index Thread Index Other Months All Mailing Lists
Date Prev Date Next Thread Prev Thread Next
From: Gerald Combs <gerald@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 17:31:16 -0600
Stephen Samuel (leave the email alone) wrote:
> It sounds like a good idea, although it should always be optional
> ( I.E. 'Just this once, | Always | Always Ask Me | Never' )

Agreed.

> Given how ethereal is used, you can't always trust the network
> you're on to be usable (or even trusted).

A quick check of Firefox's "Software Update" feature shows that it uses
a simple HTTPS request.  Would this be sufficient to ensure trust in our
case?

Another consideration is that network connectivity is nonexistent in
some situations.  SPANned/mirrored/monitored switch port and network tap
connections are typically receive-only.  We'd probably want to provide
some sort of warning for the user in this case.

> I'm guessing that you'd also have to have/add versioning to the
> data stored about dissectors.

Absolutely.  We'd probably want to allow different distributions to use
their own URL since many back-port fixes to older versions.

If we were to add this feature, it would have to

  - Ensure a minimal amount of trust
  - Be optional
  - Time out gracefully
  - Provide version-specific data
  - Allow per-distro configuration

Did I miss anything?