Re: lilypond via web interface: security considerations

[Graham Percival]

On Thu, May 21, 2009 at 02:47:54PM -0400, Mike Blackstock wrote:
> Of course, 'security' is relative - nothing will stop a commited
> hacker who's targeted your system, so I'm a bit mystified by
> some of the other responses here.

That's not true -- The only reason that computer security is a
joke is that people *treat* it like a joke.  It's entirely
possible to create a system that will foil a committed hacker.

Now, does this involve a lot of work?  Certainly.  And consumers
willing to pay to have this work done?  Definitely not!  But that
doesn't mean that computer programs are some magical black box
that anybody can break.  Barring random bit-flipping from solar
rays, computers are deterministic objects.


By "a lot of work", suppose that all programmers (and academics)
stopped implementing new features and new programs in 1994, and
spent the past 15 years just improving security.  How many holes
do you think would be left in the result?

Cheers,
- Graham