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Why do all my accounts (on my computer) passwords look the same? You can see it here (I had to post on imgur because I couldn't post the 4 pictures here). The passwords all look the same but are they different?

I know this isn't that much of a deal but I am curious to why this is happening.

2 Answers 2

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It's a security measure. If someone were to find your computer logged in, they might open the settings to take a look at your passwords. If they know you rather well, and also know one or two of your passwords, they might be able to guess your password using what they know.

However, since Ubuntu shows all the passwords as being five or six (I can't count similar characters very well) characters long, it takes away the ability to guess the password from the length.

It's maybe not the most useful feature, but it's still handy.

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  • ahh okay thanks, so its just to stop people (bad) from obtaining your real password?
    – Isaac
    Apr 7, 2016 at 19:45
  • @Isaac Well, not necessarily bad (it could be an obnoxious sibling who happens to know one of your passwords), but yeah, pretty much. Apr 7, 2016 at 19:45
  • oh okay, I'll mark it solved when I'm allowed (delay for some reason? 2 minutes left)
    – Isaac
    Apr 7, 2016 at 19:46
  • Thanks! :). I think the delay is just to prevent possible spam and rep farming (give actual people the chance to answer). Apr 7, 2016 at 19:48
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It is simply to obfuscate the real password length, see it as a part of a security feature.

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