Bitwarden SDK relicensed from proprietary to GPLv3 • Hacker News Board

Re: Bitwarden SDK relicensed from proprietary to GPLv3

#111

Post by SPBS » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 5:48 AM UTC

blendergeek wrote: post #19

Thank you to Bitwarden for relicensing a thing to Free/Open License! Unfortunately, I no longer recommend Bitwarden for normal people because the built-in password manager in Firefox is too good. But for anyone with more advance needs (or who doesn't trust a password manager built into a web browser, I always recommend Bitwarden because KeepassXC + syncing is way too difficult for normal people.

Built-in password managers don’t work across apps. They only work for the browsers they’re built into.

Re: Bitwarden SDK relicensed from proprietary to GPLv3

#112

Post by ClassyJacket » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 5:49 AM UTC

simfree wrote: post #50

danpalmer wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unfortunately, I no longer recommend Bitwarden for normal people because the built-in password manager in Firefox is too good Interesting, I've always felt that browser-based password managers provided remarkably little value for most people. Using them on mobile is tricky and platform dependent, it's easy to have local-only, non-synced data and then lose it, and being multi-device is trickier, especially in a work…

Firefox password sync just works. It's one of those things I never think about. Watching friends and family struggle with bespoke, poorly integrated password managers makes me cringe and is one of the big reasons I enjoy the seamless experience of the built-in Firefox password manager.

Can Firefox password manager work in other apps on Android?

Re: Bitwarden SDK relicensed from proprietary to GPLv3

#113

Post by 3np » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 5:49 AM UTC

CaptainNegative wrote: post #104

ezst wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What finally brought me to using BW was that I simultaneously needed to backup/sync my TOTPs across mobile/desktop devices, and came to have the need for sharing an increasing number of passwords with my SO. It delivered beautifully on all of that.

This isn't an area I know much about, but wouldn't there be a security risk involved with storing the TOTP seeds alongside the passwords? Or is that not a real concern?

It's a valid concern. Especially if you use the same BW for password and TOTP for the same service, you've effectively reduced 2 factors to 1. If you really must sync both your TOTP secrets and your passwords, those should be completely separate systems.

Re: Bitwarden SDK relicensed from proprietary to GPLv3

#114

Post by ClassyJacket » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 5:50 AM UTC

arnavpraneet wrote: post #103

throwuxiytayq wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Never store anything remotely important on a Google service.

I know we are kidding but damn the news Google Drive is being sunsetted by December would ruin a lot of people's days

At this rate they'll sunset google search and their advertising business just because.

Re: Bitwarden SDK relicensed from proprietary to GPLv3

#115

Post by morsch » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 5:52 AM UTC

notpushkin wrote: post #83

odo1242 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not end-to-end encrypted (if you enable account sync), so Microsoft can technically see your passwords. Feel free to switch or not switch based on that information.

Firefox isn't end-to-end encrypted either anymore, IIRC.

They say it is: https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/sync

Re: Bitwarden SDK relicensed from proprietary to GPLv3

#116

Post by conradev » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 5:53 AM UTC

blendergeek wrote: post #19

Thank you to Bitwarden for relicensing a thing to Free/Open License! Unfortunately, I no longer recommend Bitwarden for normal people because the built-in password manager in Firefox is too good. But for anyone with more advance needs (or who doesn't trust a password manager built into a web browser, I always recommend Bitwarden because KeepassXC + syncing is way too difficult for normal people.

It’s also the only browser that doesn’t support Passkeys yet :(

Re: Bitwarden SDK relicensed from proprietary to GPLv3

#117

Post by subarctic » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 5:53 AM UTC

dwightgunning wrote: post #88

ekianjo wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can use syncthing too. Works just as well.

Is there a robust Syncthing app for iOS? Last time I checked there was only an affiliate project and their story wasn't convincing.

I use mobius sync and I'd say the app itself is fine, you just have to open it whenever you want things to sync. That's one of the things I miss from Android. Also you can't sync your camera folder

Re: Bitwarden SDK relicensed from proprietary to GPLv3

#118

Post by callahad » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 5:58 AM UTC

codys wrote: post #108

notpushkin wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox reminds you a bunch of times, too. Would be nice if you could just link a new device via QR code (creating an account for you in the background).

The original Firefox sync worked like this (with a unique code and pairing instead of an explicit account) (this is so on the nose I suspect you may know this). This blog post goes over some of that history: https://blog.mozilla.org/services/2014/04/30/firefox-syncs-n...

Didn't expect to click on that link and end up on a blog post I wrote 10 years ago! The old Firefox Sync / PAKE stuff was fantastic for getting sync going between devices... but people wanted backup, not sync. I wonder if we'd do anything differently confronted with the same challenge today.

Re: Bitwarden SDK relicensed from proprietary to GPLv3

#119

Post by conradev » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 5:59 AM UTC

dwightgunning wrote: post #88

ekianjo wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can use syncthing too. Works just as well.

Is there a robust Syncthing app for iOS? Last time I checked there was only an affiliate project and their story wasn't convincing.

Nope. I have a cloud Syncthing box that is accessible over SSH, and I use ShellFish to read/write my synced folders. It works okay, especially for lazily sending stuff from my phone to my laptop.

Re: Bitwarden SDK relicensed from proprietary to GPLv3

#120

Post by powersnail » Fri, Oct 25, 2024, 6:00 AM UTC

It's a welcome change. It still feels like they are trying to be too smart on licensing, especially how to combine GPL and proprietary licensed code, which I think is the root cause of the whole drama. The open core model works better as a hosted service, where you are not distributing the amalgamation of GPL and proprietary. Open core in client code seems a bit too rife for potential misunderstandings and confusions.

Hope it works out for them, though. It's a good product.