-
This article is actually about mkpasswd (maybe this should be added to the link title)
For the purpose of creating a new password, I use pwgen -s 16 (parameter s for secure = completely random, length 16). It gives you a couple of random passwords and you choose the one you like best (or a random one). The command has plenty of other useful options.
-
-
By using base64 you limiting your charset quite a lot. base64 only contains 2 special chars while there are a lot more typeable characters on a keyboard, like ()&^%$#@. ascii85 would be much better.
-
-
Big picture, I don’t think this matters, but also consider that some fraction of ascii85 strings will be valid base64 strings. A cracker going after all 10 letter base64 passwords will also crack a bunch of ascii85 passwords that coexist in that space. The same random bytes rendered as a 12 byte base64 string would be safe.
All bets are off if there are length limits or truncation, but barring that, I think I’d very slightly prefer longer and simpler over shorter and denser. Longer and denser trumps that, but any password I type on my phone has an upper bound on the complexity I’m willing to tolerate.
-
Yes, that’s true. I just have a better feeling when I know that the attacker needs to use a larger charset to brute force a password. Maybe it also reduces the likelihood of a hash collision with another string when you use a larger initial charset.
But in essence, you are right: if you don’t need to remember the password and therefor can opt for a longer password, it shouldn’t matter if you use base64 or ascii85.
-
-
-
-
-
Is there a link to the talks there?
-
-
IMO Robert just has fallen for ZDNet’s link-bait. It was just a provocative statement by MongoDB CEO Max Schireson to gain attention.
There are fields where relational databases are well suited and others where document databases have their advantages. End of story.
-
That, and Mongo is horribly designed.
-
Interesting feature: peer-to-peer offline news sharing, as a method to have someone with (unrestricted) internet access to spread news to others. Clearly for use in countries with heavy censorship and/or very limited internet access.