Bitwarden introduced a non-free dependency to their clients. The Bitwarden CTO tried to frame this as a bug but his explanation does not really make it any less concerning.

Perhaps it is time for alternative Bitwarden-compatible clients. An open source client that’s not based on Electron would be nice. Or move to something else entirely? Are there any other client-server open source password managers?

  • CommanderShepard@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    9 days ago

    Bitwarden is a very convenient password manager for an average computer user. It’s very straightforward and easy to use.

    I can see some bias here of the people who say “o, just use KeePass and sync the database over some cloud provider”. What if there are conflicts? How do they deal with them? I can figure it our but most people I know, won’t.

    Even the password manager concept is a complicated concept to grasp for many people (that I know). And I can recommend them Bitwarden because it’s relatively easy, but KeePass with sync? Maybe, if I commit to actively help them with it.

    P.S. I’ve convinced several people to try out Linux, and they are willing to learn it, but even if they just need to use a browser, they struggle sometimes. I can’t imagine them syncing the KeePass database.

    • Daniel Quinn@lemmy.caEnglish
      2·
      9 days ago

      This is a common problem with Free software, and honestly I think it’s our biggest one: we build stuff for ourselves and stop there. If we want our stuff to be adopted (which, for things that rely on network effects, we do) then we need to pay more attention to usability.

      Here’s a suggestion for anyone starting a project they think they might share. Before you start writing any code, write the documentation. Then rewrite it from the perspective of the least tech-literate person you know who you’d still want to use the project. Only after you’ve worked out how easy it should be for this person to get started, then you can start writing the thing.