5 ms·

Why? This seems like the perfect thing for an NaCl application.

xorglorb 15y ago
NaCl doesn't have the low level networking capabilities needed for SSH, Telnet, etc. because they would be a security risk (a "game" could run a portscanner or look for open SMB shares on the network).
tree_of_item 15y ago
It might be a bad idea to put too many eggs in to the NaCl basket, as other browser vendors are resisting it pretty strongly.
barrybe 15y ago
NaCl is nice and all, but it's better to have something that works perfectly fine on top of Javascript/HTML5, rather than only inside NaCl.
- cheald 15y ago
  HTML5/Javascript can't do raw socket operations, which is the big obvious downside here.
  - wmf 15y ago
    NaCl intentionally has the same sandbox, same security model, and same I/O capabilities as JS. In this case, NaCl would still be limited to XHR or WebSocket.
    - cheald 15y ago
      Ah, I didn't know that. How does naclssh do it, then? It seemed like it was going far more low-level than the standard sandboxed security.
      - DougBTX 15y ago
        From the snippet you posted above, it looks like it depends on a "websocket-to-socket proxy".
        cheald 15y ago
        Aha, okay. Misunderstanding on my part, then!
  - calcnerd256 15y ago
    but a proxy can
  - bdonlan 15y ago
    Sure, but they can also add a new API for raw socket operations.
    - burgerbrain 15y ago
      This would undoubtedly be a bad idea. There is a reason it doesn't already exist.
      - bdonlan 15y ago
        I'm not saying open it up to just anything, but if this is for ChromeOS, they could certainly grant access to manually-installed extensions (not extension gallery extensions) and/or to OS components.
        krallja 15y ago
        "Install this app* to get 10 free cows in FarmVille!" * Note: App may include port scanner. Do not look directly into the operational end of the port scanner.
mindcrime 15y ago
Sounds like the perfect thing for a JNLP app to me.
- scrod 15y ago
  Shhh, now that embedded Java does everything we need, we must pretend it no longer exists — how else could we justify all the insane technological contortions that we'll need in order to justify profiting through sequestering users' data, renting 1980s-era features to them, and selling their attention, intimate habits, and social bonds to advertisers?
  - 01111000 15y ago
    Well said. Things really need to break out of the browser to see big gains in performance. Smart users will eventually see this. But that won't stop developers from trying to move everything inside of it. It's probably easier to build a browser user base than an OS user base.
- bokchoi 15y ago
  The MindTerm ssh2 applet has been around for a very long time: http://www.cryptzone.com/products/agmindterm/ http://www.cryptzone.com/products/agmindterm/
cheald 15y ago
http://code.google.com/p/naclssh/source/browse/src/naclssh/ssh.js?spec=svn234050d9cc8d9a63cb87da590ae3cb4904d2d95b&r=234050d9cc8d9a63cb87da590ae3cb4904d2d95b http://code.google.com/p/naclssh/source/browse/src/naclssh/s... :)

NaCl doesn't have the low level networking capabilities needed for SSH, Telnet, etc. because they would be a security risk (a "game" could run a portscanner or look for open SMB shares on the network).

tree_of_item 15y ago

It might be a bad idea to put too many eggs in to the NaCl basket, as other browser vendors are resisting it pretty strongly.

barrybe 15y ago

NaCl is nice and all, but it's better to have something that works perfectly fine on top of Javascript/HTML5, rather than only inside NaCl.

cheald 15y ago
HTML5/Javascript can't do raw socket operations, which is the big obvious downside here.
- wmf 15y ago
  NaCl intentionally has the same sandbox, same security model, and same I/O capabilities as JS. In this case, NaCl would still be limited to XHR or WebSocket.
  - cheald 15y ago
    Ah, I didn't know that. How does naclssh do it, then? It seemed like it was going far more low-level than the standard sandboxed security.
    - DougBTX 15y ago
      From the snippet you posted above, it looks like it depends on a "websocket-to-socket proxy".
      - cheald 15y ago
        Aha, okay. Misunderstanding on my part, then!
- calcnerd256 15y ago
  but a proxy can
- bdonlan 15y ago
  Sure, but they can also add a new API for raw socket operations.
  - burgerbrain 15y ago
    This would undoubtedly be a bad idea. There is a reason it doesn't already exist.
    - bdonlan 15y ago
      I'm not saying open it up to just anything, but if this is for ChromeOS, they could certainly grant access to manually-installed extensions (not extension gallery extensions) and/or to OS components.
      - krallja 15y ago
        "Install this app* to get 10 free cows in FarmVille!" * Note: App may include port scanner. Do not look directly into the operational end of the port scanner.

mindcrime 15y ago

Sounds like the perfect thing for a JNLP app to me.

scrod 15y ago
Shhh, now that embedded Java does everything we need, we must pretend it no longer exists — how else could we justify all the insane technological contortions that we'll need in order to justify profiting through sequestering users' data, renting 1980s-era features to them, and selling their attention, intimate habits, and social bonds to advertisers?
- 01111000 15y ago
  Well said. Things really need to break out of the browser to see big gains in performance. Smart users will eventually see this. But that won't stop developers from trying to move everything inside of it. It's probably easier to build a browser user base than an OS user base.
bokchoi 15y ago
The MindTerm ssh2 applet has been around for a very long time: http://www.cryptzone.com/products/agmindterm/ http://www.cryptzone.com/products/agmindterm/

cheald 15y ago

http://code.google.com/p/naclssh/source/browse/src/naclssh/ssh.js?spec=svn234050d9cc8d9a63cb87da590ae3cb4904d2d95b&r=234050d9cc8d9a63cb87da590ae3cb4904d2d95b http://code.google.com/p/naclssh/source/browse/src/naclssh/s... :)