Version 1.3 of safe – a command-line password manager

Version 1.3 adds an option -r to safe 1.2.

The option -r (‘r’ for ‘red’) prints the last word of every line in red letters on a red background. Assuming that last word is a password, that thus means that the password is printed in an unreadable way, something like this:

login.example.com sonja52 gehe1m!

Handy if somebody is looking over your shoulder, for the password is unreadable, but can still be copied and pasted elsewhere.

Only the last word of every line is red on red, so -r does not work if a secret has several words that should remain secret, or if the most sensitive word is not at the end.

Not all terminal programs can print red on red, but terminals derived from xterm are usually able to. Hiding the last word obviously also makes sense only in a graphical environment, where you have a mouse or similar to select the invisible word.