Subject: Re: bug#64882: [PATCH] doc: cookbook: Document how to disable the Yubikey OTP application.

From: John Kehayias <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2023 19:47:10 +0000

Hi Maxim,

On Thu, Jul 27, 2023 at 03:25 PM, Maxim Cournoyer wrote:

> Hi John,
>
> John Kehayias <[email-masked]> writes:
>
>> I'm not necessarily against it, but this seems only related to yubikey
>> management in general (on Linux), rather than anything specific to Guix.
>> Of course, 'guix shell' is a handy way to do this, I just don't know if
>> this is needed in the cookbook. Then again, I guess the cookbook is a
>> way to build up associated knowledge for Guix, which won't be included
>> directly in the manual.
>
> You are right that it's not specifically related to Guix, but I expects
> users going through setuping a Yubikey on Guix to want to know how to do
> that (I spent months spamming #guix with OTP codes before Ricardo shared
> that tip with me, so it was not easy to discover).  The Cookbook as I
> understand it is a loose collection of knowledge of how to do things
> using Guix, and is distinct from the user manual.
>

Sure. I'm not opposed, just wanted to make sure I was clear(ish) on
what goes in there. I'm all for collecting more information to help
out Guix users.

>> Otherwise, LGTM, but a user should be aware if they are using/needed OTP
>> before disabling it.
>
> I'm not sure when OTP is useful; it's not useful for the current use
> case I'm using my Yubikey (which is currently the two-factor
> authentication on web sites).

I checked and I have OTP disabled on my Yubikey as well; I used 'ykman
info' to see. I use it as my smart card essentially (as the keys for
passwords, SSH, signing commits, etc.) as well as two-factor codes.

I found this <https://www.yubico.com/resources/glossary/yubico-otp/>
about OTP. If I remember now, it is a service that some sites will use
to use your Yubikey for authentication, as I think LastPass had
support for (I no longer use that). I think U2F is more ubiquitous and
used more now anyway. But it is enabled by default and I would guess
many people don't use it.

John