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Pass: The Standard Unix Password Manager That Thinks It's a Ninja

·3 mins·
Tech Tools FOSS Security Unix Password-Manager FOSS Review
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Pass: The Standard Unix Password Manager That Thinks It’s a Ninja
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Imagine a raccoon loose in your kitchen. It’s chaotic, it’s resourceful, and somehow it’s figured out how to open the fridge and only steal your leftover pizza rolls. That’s Pass, the Standard Unix Password Manager. Not flashy, not pretty, but freakishly effective. Like a misunderstood toaster that secretly holds the launch codes to your Wi-Fi, Pass thrives in simplicity while making you wonder, “Am I controlling this tool, or is it controlling me?”

Pass

Basic Usage: How to Not Embarrass Yourself
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Pass is just GPG + Git + plain text sprinkled with fairy dust. The magic? Your passwords live in encrypted files, tucked neatly into directories like little digital nesting dolls.

Here’s your first date with Pass:

# Install Pass (Linux example)
sudo apt install pass

# Initialize with your GPG key
pass init "YourGPGKeyID"

# Create your first password entry (and feel like a hacker)
pass insert email/gmail

Boom. That’s it. You’ve gone from password chaos goblin to mildly competent cyber-wizard.

To retrieve your password:

pass email/gmail

Congrats, you didn’t just Google “gmail password reset” for the 17th time this week.

Advanced Wizardry: Summoning the Dark Side (But Safely)
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Now let’s level up to “look at me, I’m basically Neo” territory.

1. Use Git to Sync Passwords Across Machines
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Because what’s cooler than treating your passwords like source code? (Just don’t git push to public GitHub, unless your idea of fun is identity theft bingo.)

# Initialize Git inside your password store
pass git init
pass git remote add origin git@yourserver:passwords.git
pass git push -u origin master

2. Generate Passwords Automatically
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Why trust your brain when you can summon chaos entropy?

pass generate banking/chase 32

That’s right. A 32-character password, uglier than your cousin’s crypto portfolio.

3. Bash Completion & Aliases
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Because typing is for mortals.

# ~/.bashrc
alias p="pass"
complete -F _pass p

Now you just type p bank and the system whispers your credentials like a shady alley informant.

Real-World Use Cases (aka Survival Scenarios)
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  • Lost in a cyberpunk wasteland: You need your ProtonMail login before the megacorp drones spot you. Pass retrieves it in one command. Victory.
  • Wi-Fi apocalypse at Starbucks: No more typing “Coffe3ShopP@ssword!” into Notes. With Pass: pass wifi/starbucks. Instant access, less judgment.
  • Zombie outbreak scenario: Society collapses, but hey—you still have your encrypted Git repo of passwords. Priorities.

Pros & Cons
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Pros (cue hype-man voice):
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  • ⚡ Lightweight! Faster than a ferret on energy drinks.\
  • 🔒 Secure! GPG encryption so strong it laughs in the face of brute force.\
  • 🐧 Unix-y elegance! Plays nice with pipes, shells, and scripts like it was born in /dev/null.\
  • 🌍 Portable! Sync it with Git, and your passwords follow you like an overprotective parent.

Cons (dramatic betrayal confessions):
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  • 😭 Steeper learning curve than teaching a cat to file taxes.\
  • 🔑 Lose your GPG key? Boom. Your passwords are gone. Forever. Welcome to existential dread.\
  • 🤯 No GUI by default. It’s pure command line, baby. If you wanted a pretty dashboard, you’re in the wrong movie.

Conclusion: A Life Lesson (Or Just a Dad Joke)
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At its core, Pass is a reminder that sometimes the simplest tools are the strongest—like duct tape, or yelling “sudo” at your laptop until it obeys.

But if all else fails, here’s your terrible dad joke:

Why don’t Unix passwords ever get lost?
Because they always Pass the test.

Links for the curious:\