think i've got sockets figured out. I'm going for a scheme where the 'client' program (over ssh security) will send out commands, then waits for a response
the server gets the command and processes it in a thread. that thread sends out a response code
then the client prints out the response code
they they both jointly terminate the socket. I think one socket per command is wise, but I don't know - maybe it's better to have one socket per session. anyway, I plan on not trusting the client program, and having it transmit the username and pass in each socket command, and then the server verifies and does the transaction.