Wireshark · Ethereal-dev: Re: Disector categories (Re: [Ethereal-dev] Priv sep in ethereal)

[Gerald Combs <gerald@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Stephen Samuel (leave the email alone) wrote:
> It sounds like a good idea, although it should always be optional
> ( I.E. 'Just this once, | Always | Always Ask Me | Never' )

Agreed.

> Given how ethereal is used, you can't always trust the network
> you're on to be usable (or even trusted).

A quick check of Firefox's "Software Update" feature shows that it uses
a simple HTTPS request.  Would this be sufficient to ensure trust in our
case?

Another consideration is that network connectivity is nonexistent in
some situations.  SPANned/mirrored/monitored switch port and network tap
connections are typically receive-only.  We'd probably want to provide
some sort of warning for the user in this case.

> I'm guessing that you'd also have to have/add versioning to the
> data stored about dissectors.

Absolutely.  We'd probably want to allow different distributions to use
their own URL since many back-port fixes to older versions.

If we were to add this feature, it would have to

  - Ensure a minimal amount of trust
  - Be optional
  - Time out gracefully
  - Provide version-specific data
  - Allow per-distro configuration

Did I miss anything?