Re: Question on user repository restrictions

[Luis]

Thank you all for such great feedback.
We will start the setup before September, so that it can be used for
the next year's course... Then I will tell you how we did it.

BTW, it is a great idea to base the assignment delivery directly
through CVS, using a version ID, for example. I guess that versions
record the date and time when they are created, so this will also help
ensure that they deliver the code on time.

About securing the connection: Eclipse supports "pserver", "ext" and
"extsh". Which one is more secure? Do they have any extra requirements?
And would that work in CVSNT?

Regards,

Jeremie Le Hen wrote:
> Hi Luis,
>
> > Here is the context of the problem: I teach Java and J2EE at a
> > university. My students use Eclipse+WTP as the development environment,
> > but the lab PCs are shared and it is currently very messy for them to
> > keep their eclipse projects: the lab PCs are cleaned after every boot,
> > so the students must manually backup all their work.
> >
> > That is why I am thinking of setting up a CVS server. In addition to
> > simplify their work so they can focus on learning, they will no longer
> > have the typical excuse of "I lost my hard drive and the practical work
> > I had to present today was there".
> >
> > The problem is that this is not a typical CVS setup, since each student
> > should only be able to see the code he submits, and not be aware of any
> > other code from other students (otherwise they would copy the code from
> > the good students).
> >
> > ...And here goes the question: how should I setup CVS in order to
> > support that approach? Is there a way to configure the user/password
> > files so that a given CVS resource can only be seen by the user that
> > created it? They should not be able even to see the directory structure
> > of other student's projects, as they would learn how the project is
> > structured (in Java, a file usually corresponds to an object).
> > Or maybe the best approach is to setup a separate repository for each
> > student? If so, how scalable is that? My classes have 20 to 40
> > students, and if this approach works fine it may be used by other
> > groups and add up to, say, a total of 120 students.
>
> As a side note to what has been answered, I would add that you should
> really rely on strong cryptgraphy.  The cryptography scheme applied
> to CVS pserver is very weak and can be deciphered pretty easily with
> the dsniff tool.  Given that students are often more arful than
> hardworking, I think you should not provide them an easy way to
> steal their schoolmate work, especially those who are hardworking and
> not willing to fob their work off on the others.
>
> Best regards,
> --
> Jeremie Le Hen
> < jeremie at le-hen dot org >< ttz at chchile dot org >