[Tfug] [WAs digest] Innocuous/ubiquitous service(s)?

[Bexley Hall]

Hi Zack,

On 4/13/2013 4:47 PM, Zack Breckenridge wrote:
> Your description made me think of this:
>
> https://github.com/stealth/sshttp
>
> Stable? Not sure. I've never actually used it.
>
> It sounds like one of the crucial factors in your decision is the client
> code. For example, I think you could make a simple apache module that
> throws up a custom banner before waiting for an HTTP request. For example,
> "HELLO IM<IP ADDR>".
> But if you plan on connecting with a browser, this might break the client.
>
> *If* you control the client code, then it probably isn't that big of a deal.

I can control the client code -- though I'm looking at a scheme,
currently, where that isn't necessary.

Ideally, I want a service that "doesn't stand out" (innocuous)
and, as such, never draws attention to itself.

So, it should be reasonably ubiquitous as something that is NOT
very common "stands out" by its very scarcity!  This is where
HTTPd feels like the perfect fit (there are probably more
HTTPd services than *computers* out there!  :-/ )

But, any service that requires "customization" in order NOT to
stand out (e.g., HTTPd without "user-specific content") also
"stands out" -- "Why would someone create a web server that isn't
serving up 'special' content??"

So, the content that a particular service provides has to either
be *common* (e.g., NTP always serves up ToD) or "externally
sourced" (e.g., NNTP relays content provided by *others*).

If you don't *know* I've (*me*) deployed this service at this (IP,port),
then you shouldn't be able to *find* it, easily!