[Pidgin] #12144: store passwords in a file which is not constantly written to

[Pidgin]

#12144: store passwords in a file which is not constantly written to
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Reporter:  simon_w  |        Type:  enhancement 
  Status:  new      |   Component:  pidgin (gtk)
 Version:  2.7.1    |    Keywords:              
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 Hi all,

 I wonder would it be possible to allow pidgin to store account passwords
 in a separate file from the accounts.xml?

 I've just spent an hour messing around getting my passwords from a GPG
 encrypted file, and passing them into accounts.xml.  However, even if I
 remove them again as part of the same wrapper script, pidgin keeps writing
 them back in.

 My use case is that I'd like to include my pidgin config and logs in  a
 folder I use to backup important config files, which is synced using
 Dropbox between a couple of computers.  But, of course, I don't fancy
 sending my Google accounts password in plain text over the internet.

 I trust my FS security sufficiently, and I use encryption wherever
 possible, but I don't trust Dropbox.

 I'm familiar with the long-standing debate on this issue, and while I
 don't agree with the position taken by the developers, I'm not up to
 writing the required keyring integration, and I don't want to open that
 debate again.

 But if the passwords were in a separate file, I could encrypt/decrypt it
 with a wrapper script, or simply not sync/backup that file.

 At the moment, the best I can come up with is a wrapper which decrypts my
 config and then copies it to a new location.  It then runs pidgin with a
 --config parameter, and copies the config back on exit.  It's a damned
 ugly solution though, for a variety of obvious (and some not-so-obvious!)
 reasons.

 I don't know if this suggestion will be heard favourably, but I decided to
 make it anyway.  Apologies if I've annoyed anyone! :$

 simon

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Ticket URL: <http://developer.pidgin.im/ticket/12144>
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