Security/Safety question re: eval() and dicts

[holger krekel]

andy wrote:
> This is probably one for the Language Lawyers and Zen Pythonistas out there...
> 
> I'm still working (as time permits) on the 'repository' module I mentioned a 
> few weeks ago.  
> 
> I've renamed it 'chalkboard' to better convey its purpose, and subtitled it 
> 'lightweight remote shared dictionary' to further underline its 
> insignificance as an industrial-strength mission-critical utility module :-)  

i like that one :-)

> Still, I don't want the security side to be totally crap, so I thought I'd 
> better try to plug it's most glaring hole of all...

You really have to define the threat you want to attack against. 
"security" has no real meaning except as a buzzword which everybody
pretends to know about.  I mean do you want to attack against a
dictionary with 'evil' values?  How do you define 'evil', then, 
as 'crashing your interpreter' or 'silently changing data'? 

I would rather keep it simple and let users worry about an
appropriate security model.

have fun,

    holger