Comment by dotancohen

  > Except almost everyone always means #2.

Until the string has to be stored in a database. Or transmitted over HTTP. Or copy-pasted in Windows running Autohotkey. Or stored in a logfile. Or used to authenticate. Or used to authorize. Or used by a human to self-identify. Or encoded. Or encrypted. Or used in an element on a web page. Or sent in an email to 12,000,000 users, some of whom might read it on a Windows 2000 box running Nutscrape. Or sent to a vendor in China. Or sent to a client in Israel. Or sent in an SMS message to 12,000,000 users, some of whom might read it on a Nokia 3310. Or sent to my exwife.