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List:       e-lang
Subject:    Re: [e-lang] [cap-talk]  File API taming
From:       Lex Spoon <lex () lexspoon ! org>
Date:       2009-03-25 0:13:16
Message-ID: CF5A3770-BC2A-4691-8000-A566FF4B3D36 () lexspoon ! org
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On Mar 24, 2009, at 2:11 PM, Stiegler, Marc D wrote:
> If you can put a single file into multiple directories, that would  
> still befine, a directory could (should? must?) have a facet on the  
> file that is, in the context of that directory, the file's name. So  
> if you reach a file through a particular navigation path through  
> directories, you have a contextual path associated with that file  
> and its contextual filename derived from that directory structure.

I had the same question.  Given a meaningful string naming a  
directory, and a filename within that directory, you can get a  
meaningful string naming the file by concatenating them.  Sure, other  
people will have different names for it if they reach the same file  
via a different chain of directories.  Nonetheless, it looks possible  
in most cases to come up with *some* name for a file, even in Tahoe.   
Incidentally, the same issue exists on Unix with its symbolic links.   
A Unix file has, in general, multiple names.

Overall, my initial intuition was that it would be better to not have  
names in a tamed File API.  However, I must admit it seems perfectly  
normal to have some sort of descriptive name for a file object.  Once  
we go that far, is it any problem if the descriptive name is actually  
a file name?

I'm not sure.  I can't think of any obvious ways to abuse the file  
name, except for phishing kind of attacks (please right click on the  
file named ___ and then say "unprotect access").  More fundamentally,  
is it realistic to keep the file name from leaking into the contained  
application via some path or another?  It looks like a hard secret to  
keep, and the phishing problems are likely there even if the contained  
app doesn't know for sure what the file name.  I've been to web sites  
before that start talking about my C:\Windows directory, even though I  
don't have one.  If I had one, I would have been more freaked out!


Lex

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