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> 1. The vast majority of web developers/IT people/etc. aren't really knowledgeable enough to make the call whether something actually needs to be encrypted. >

> 1. The vast majority of web developers/IT people/etc. aren't really knowledgeable enough to make the call whether something actually needs to be encrypted. > 2. Just because your system doesn't need HTTPS now, doesn't mean it never will The web... used to be a place where people, companies, and organizations shared linkable information publicly. The whole point was to make a massive web of interlinked information. If your goal is to contribute to this web, the cost of entry was to buy a DNS name and push out your content on an inexpensive server. The modern web has greatly degraded this experience and HTTPS adds friction and implementation costs which degrades it even more so more and more information which used to be easily shared and accessible becomes trapped in FaceBook and other walled gardens. > 3. Even if you don't need encryption for yourself, do it for everyone else who does need encryption. I get this, but understand that lots of small organizations and private individuals aren't going to pony up the time/ money to bridge over to the fully encrypted web and will just become nodes on FaceBook or other large sites where hosting is "burden-free". The open web is more or less a memory already and this is just another nail in the coffin.

kerkeslager 6y ago
I too mourn the failure of the open web to gain traction, but I don't think you've identified the causes correctly. 1) I disagree that the modern web has degraded this experience much, if at all. If anything, the tools today are much better, easier, and more mature. Perhaps there's a few extra steps now, but Apache today is much easier to use than Apache in 1996, including things like installing it from a package manager. If you don't consider things like NearlyFreeSpeech and DigitalOcean "walled gardens", these have gotten much better as well. A few years back, I spent 30 minutes installing Wordpress and my completely nontechnical father was able to build a website. So no, things have not gotten harder, they've gotten easier. HTTPS perhaps makes things minimally harder, but many hosts will set up HTTPS for you with a free support ticket these days. 2) Removing the burden of HTTPS, and indeed removing the burden of a great many other things, still wouldn't bring you close to the ease of entry of Facebook or other walled gardens. Even though entry into the open web has gotten easier, it there has been a migration away from the open web because the closed web is so much easier. This isn't a problem that will be solved by getting rid of HTTPS. It's a problem that will only be solved by hacking open source software that does what Facebook et al does.

kerkeslager 6y ago

I too mourn the failure of the open web to gain traction, but I don't think you've identified the causes correctly. 1) I disagree that the modern web has degraded this experience much, if at all. If anything, the tools today are much better, easier, and more mature. Perhaps there's a few extra steps now, but Apache today is much easier to use than Apache in 1996, including things like installing it from a package manager. If you don't consider things like NearlyFreeSpeech and DigitalOcean "walled gardens", these have gotten much better as well. A few years back, I spent 30 minutes installing Wordpress and my completely nontechnical father was able to build a website. So no, things have not gotten harder, they've gotten easier. HTTPS perhaps makes things minimally harder, but many hosts will set up HTTPS for you with a free support ticket these days. 2) Removing the burden of HTTPS, and indeed removing the burden of a great many other things, still wouldn't bring you close to the ease of entry of Facebook or other walled gardens. Even though entry into the open web has gotten easier, it there has been a migration away from the open web because the closed web is so much easier. This isn't a problem that will be solved by getting rid of HTTPS. It's a problem that will only be solved by hacking open source software that does what Facebook et al does.