GNU bug report logs - #69237
30.0.50; Toggle password visibility

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Message #29 received at 69237 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Michael Albinus <michael.albinus <at> gmx.de>
To: Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org>
Cc: 69237 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#69237: 30.0.50; Toggle password visibility
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 18:08:56 +0100

Eli Zaretskii <eliz <at> gnu.org> writes:

Hi Eli,

>> > I'm not sure TAB is the best candidate for this.  I think it would be
>> > better to use some non-character key, like F9 or somesuch.  And
>> > another one, for keyboards without function key.
>>
>> As usual, I don't care too much about this, so I'm OK with any
>> proposal. However, out of curiosity, what's wrong with TAB? I'm not
>> aware that any password contains it.
>
> Is it impossible for TAB to appear in a password?

Passwords are often entered in HTML pages with a special password field,
derived from text fields. On HTML pages, TAB is applied to jump to the
next text field or anchor. See
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabbing_navigation>. So I doubt that TABs
can be used in passwords.

See also the discussion in the sytemd issue
<https://github.com/systemd/systemd/issues/10100>, where Lennart
Poettering has said something similar about systemd-ask-password.

> If it is, the TAB is okay, and my only reservation about that is that
> TAB is not generally interpreted in my mental model of "advanced"
> input patterns as something that hides/shows stuff.  TAB is more about
> completion and similar functionality.  But that's me.
>
> Let's hear opinions from others.

Yep.

Best regards, Michael.

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