[tahoe-dev] web "control panel"

[Brian Warner]

>> Also, how does the "standard solution" deal with GETs?
> 
> You can put the secret parameter in the URL query string, thus
> defeating the porpoise.
> 
> More to the point, GETs are supposed to be idempotent and safe. Updating
> your server's configuration does not fall into that category. Use only POSTs
> for changes in state, just like the HTTP spec says.

But "safe" != "public". Part of the control panel may
(side-effect-freely) show information that's supposed to be private to
the node operator, like comments they've entered about other servers, or
their remaining $ balance with a commercial server operator. It sounds
like the usual framework's reliance upon ambient cookies leaves this
uncovered, or assumes that Same-Origin-Policy protects them because the
usual ways to avoid it don't make it easy to get data back out. Hrm.

> Hilariously, the Ruby community found this out the hard way when Google Web
> Accelerator (a cacheing proxy just like any other) prefetched links in Rails
> apps like Delete Item and Buy Now and Blow Up Everything. (Note that
> browsers also prefetch now, too.)

Yeah, I had a similar lesson ten years ago when I stupidly used GET
links to delete records in a Petmail server that I put online. The
Google spider deleted every address record ever published there, one at
a time. Awesome.

> If you crave the visual style of text links, you can always give them
> JavaScript event handlers:
> 
> <a onclick="deleteAccount()">Delete Account</a>

Hrm, so mandatory JS. I'll think about it.

thanks!
 -Brian