[Freeciv] Re: Authorization

[Mike Kaufman <kaufman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Tue, Mar 11, 2003 at 05:41:45AM -0800, John Wheeler wrote:
> > And what other players think about authorization?
> 
> I'd be happy with simple password for multiplayer
> games.  When I play by myself, though, I'd want to not
> have to bother with authorization.  (If you want to
> get really fancy, you could restrict the IP addresses
> that a player could log in from -- but not too much,
> as people with dial-up access (such as myself)
> frequently have the final number change from session
> to session.)

the plan is to have to specifically enable authentication in the server on
compilation (or maybe this should be a server option?) Restricting IP's is
a pain in the ass. So playing by yourself, you simply don't have an
authenticating server or you log in as a guest.

> Also, one thing you might want to have for long
> tournament games is start off with AI players for
> latecomers to be able to join in.  If you do that, the
> ability to change the password would be useful.

I haven't read my code recently, so I don't remember what I did exactly
regarding this situation. Either it was that AI controlled players could be
replaced by live players, or the guy with cmdlevel ctrl would have to
associate the newcomer with the ai player manually.

The function of a password is authentication not specifically protecting
players. Successful password negotiation announces to people that you are
really who your login claims you are. If one of the game players has your
login name associated with it, then you are given control of that player.
If not, then one with cmdlevel ctrl can give you control of any player.
(though you make a good point, I'll need to make a change_password command).

-mike