Gnucash password protection and encryption

[Robert Graham Merkel]

linas@linas.org writes:
 > Hi,
 > 
 > Sounds like not a bad idea,  you should pursue this on the
 > gnucash-devel@gnucash.org mailing list.
 > 
 > --linas
 > 
 > It's been rumoured that Booster said:
 > > 
 > > 
 > > Hello,
 > > 
 > > I am using Gnucash regularly, its really great.
 > > 
 > > But I have one problem, security.
 > > 
 > > Could you please add an option to protect the saved files with a password, or 
 > > better, call gnupg to encrypt the files when saving them ? And then extract 
 > > them when loading ?
 > > 
 > > What do you thing of that ?
 > > 
 > > Thanks very much for your great work.
 > > 
 > > CU Booster

While this might sound like a good idea, it has some problems which
make the improved security somewhat illusory.  

The following thread in the mail archives provides a good argument for
*not* providing such a facility from within gnucash:

http://www.gnumatic.com/pipermail/gnucash-devel/2000-September/000765.html

Note in particular the suggestion to use an encrypted filesystem like
CFS instead.

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Robert Merkel	                           rgmerk@mira.net

<telsa> I left my client on #gtk+ overnight and there was nothing 
in scrollback at all except quit/rejoins.
<bighead> telsa: well its been that for, I think 3 days now 
(ever since started coming back on IRC)
<telsa> Clearly they are busy implementing telepathy, 
and dog-fooding it. :) 
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