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If they think that being fully automated is the main reason why people are interested in them they are mistaken. Top two reasons seem to be that they are free

by Avernar 11y ago

If they think that being fully automated is the main reason why people are interested in them they are mistaken. Top two reasons seem to be that they are free and that there are no usage restrictions. I personally don't want a fully automated process. Shutting down all my virtual hosts to let their tool pretend to be my server is a big NOPE.

rurounijones 11y ago
> If they think that being fully automated is the main reason why people are interested in them they are mistaken. [Citation Needed]
- Avernar 11y ago
  Sorry. I didn't keep detailed records of the comments I've been reading about let's encrypt over the last half year or so. :) But I've noticed that most people were happy about free and no restrictions while the automatic part mainly just got how is that going to work and will it screw up my server comments.
  - rurounijones 11y ago
    I think that is the techie HN echo chamber effect. I have spoken to lots of people (Yay! More anecdata) about the idea of lets encrypt (Business people with small websites) and the "automatic" bit was very much a plus point.
    - Avernar 11y ago
      Would you happen to know if these business people run their own web server or use a hosting service?
      - rurounijones 11y ago
        The ones I know of run their own servers for small things like wordpress blogs, small magento e-commerce installations etc. To be brutally honest, they would be better off with a hosting service to take care of things since SSL is not the only issue they have and they lack full-time techies.
wildpeaks 11y ago
The "turn off server while it generates certificates" was indeed the one surprise in the process for me (while the rest was quite straightforward, kudos on that). What I wonder is why it has to be port 80, not another port ?
- vincentkriek 11y ago
  I agree, turning of the webserver is inconvenient and port 80 needs root which I do not like.
cuonic 11y ago
You can specify the web root of the domain you are trying to validate using the webroot plugin, meaning that you do not have to stop your current HTTP server or run another one, it just adds the verification file to your website's root. ./letsencrypt-auto --webroot-path=/home/cuonic/cuonic.com
XorNot 11y ago
Yeah this is the bizarre part of this whole enterprise. The core and biggest problem here is getting valid certificates for free. That enables the process for people who are interested, and means those people can go on to make everyone else aware of it, which raises the amount of crypto in use overall. On that backbone, people will build the tools.
sp332 11y ago
If you already have certificates, this is just an easier way to get them. You don't have to use the automated tool if it doesn't appeal to you.

by Avernar 11y ago

rurounijones 11y ago

> If they think that being fully automated is the main reason why people are interested in them they are mistaken. [Citation Needed]

Avernar 11y ago
Sorry. I didn't keep detailed records of the comments I've been reading about let's encrypt over the last half year or so. :) But I've noticed that most people were happy about free and no restrictions while the automatic part mainly just got how is that going to work and will it screw up my server comments.
- rurounijones 11y ago
  I think that is the techie HN echo chamber effect. I have spoken to lots of people (Yay! More anecdata) about the idea of lets encrypt (Business people with small websites) and the "automatic" bit was very much a plus point.
  - Avernar 11y ago
    Would you happen to know if these business people run their own web server or use a hosting service?
    - rurounijones 11y ago
      The ones I know of run their own servers for small things like wordpress blogs, small magento e-commerce installations etc. To be brutally honest, they would be better off with a hosting service to take care of things since SSL is not the only issue they have and they lack full-time techies.

wildpeaks 11y ago

The "turn off server while it generates certificates" was indeed the one surprise in the process for me (while the rest was quite straightforward, kudos on that). What I wonder is why it has to be port 80, not another port ?

vincentkriek 11y ago
I agree, turning of the webserver is inconvenient and port 80 needs root which I do not like.

cuonic 11y ago

You can specify the web root of the domain you are trying to validate using the webroot plugin, meaning that you do not have to stop your current HTTP server or run another one, it just adds the verification file to your website's root. ./letsencrypt-auto --webroot-path=/home/cuonic/cuonic.com

XorNot 11y ago

Yeah this is the bizarre part of this whole enterprise. The core and biggest problem here is getting valid certificates for free. That enables the process for people who are interested, and means those people can go on to make everyone else aware of it, which raises the amount of crypto in use overall. On that backbone, people will build the tools.

sp332 11y ago

If you already have certificates, this is just an easier way to get them. You don't have to use the automated tool if it doesn't appeal to you.