HN Hall of Fame Weekly email

Pass: The standard Unix password manager

www.passwordstore.org Software & code Software projects Security & privacy Class of 2021-04 Hall of Fame
Screenshot of www.passwordstore.org captured 2026-07-20
Page preview · captured 2026-07-20

Resurfaced independently across 10 calendar years, with breakout response in 4 of them.

submissions
22
submitters
21
observed span
2014–2025
peak thread · 205 comments
411 pts
latest 20+ return · 2025-09-13
329 pts

Submission timeline

2007–2026

One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.

First comments on top threads

HN comment order

I've been using pass for several years now and I recommend it to my friends, but I usually get weird looks when I say I store my passwords in a git repo (it's not as bad as it sounds!). Here's why: - I host my git repo on my desktop computer (through SSH), so it's not exposed anywhere except if you have SSH access to my computer. (A lot of people seem to think git = GitHub which is not…

I've used this for a long time, and along with its Git integration (pushing/pulling to/from a repository on my own server, accessed over SSH) and a GPG key stored on a Yubikey Neo, I've got basically seamless sync between two laptops, a desktop and an Android phone, without using any third-party service. The "Password Store" app on Android is compatible with `pass` and supports Git and NFC for using the Yubikey Neo to decrypt the passwords.

jbg_·406-point thread·

There's a ton of positivity here, but on the balance there are some significant issues with pass that I think bear mention: - The fact that it's essentially unstructured data makes it hard to work with generically. If you have a username + password and need to use those in a script, you'll need to implement your own parser in your shell language in every script you need it in. - `pass generate` to generate new passwords, maybe thanks to…

rendaw·329-point thread·

Related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29577272

The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.

Breakout years
4

100+ points or 50+ comments

Total points
1357

reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking

Total comments
665

reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking

Every submission

DateTitle as submittedByPointsComments
2014-05-27Pass: Very minimal CLI password manager that follows Unix philosophyzx2c452
2015-04-28Pass: The Standard Unix Password Manageredward40
2015-05-19The standard unix password managerCouto21
2015-10-18Pass: Unix Password ManagerSir_Cmpwn10
2016-02-21Pass: The Standard Unix Password Managerolalonde20
2016-04-15Password manager using gpg and ordinary unix directories0xmohit30
2016-05-11Pass: The Standard Unix Password Managerdjvdorp10
2016-07-20Pass: The standard unix password managerbenbs31
2016-08-10Pass: The Standard Unix Password Managermikecarlton30
2017-01-09Pass – The standard unix password managermaxt10
2017-05-09Pass: the standard unix password managerfunkaster10
2017-07-15Password Store aka pass: the standard Unix password managerfanf230
2017-07-21Pass: A standard Unix password managerFirst breakoutjaybosamiya406199
2019-01-05Pass:the standard unix password manager (From the maker of WireGuard)chrisswanda30
2019-06-09Pass – the standard Unix password managerjhabdas20
2020-08-05Pass – the standard Unix password managervalera_rozuvan30
2020-11-13pass – the standard Unix password managerpmoriarty20
2021-04-13Pass: The standard Unix password managerHall induction · Best threadhomarp411205
2022-06-17pass – the standard Unix password managerpmoriarty16876
2022-10-26Pass – The Standard Unix Password Managerluuuzeta30
2023-10-18Pass – the standard Unix password managersathishmanohar10
2025-09-13Pass: Unix Password ManagerLatest 20+ point returnBogdanp329181