The OpenPGP standard trust stuff is certainly represents a more flexible system (wildcards match on a regular expression) and at this point is a simpler and mor

The OpenPGP standard trust stuff is certainly represents a more flexible system (wildcards match on a regular expression) and at this point is a simpler and more straightforward system. It ultimately solves more or less the same problem. TLS links a key fingerprint (ultimately the identity in any cryptographic trust system) to a host name. PGP links the key fingerprint to a name and email address (although the standard does not prevent you from linking, say, your phone number as well). So in either case we link the fingerprint to a more convenient alphanumeric string. That's it, that's all we are doing here. The whole trick is in what you think that alphanumeric string represents. I sometimes fantasize about a world where the head office of a bank has a giant QR code literally chiselled into the stone of the building representing the key fingerprint of their root identity. That way anyone that walks by can verify all the bank's identities down to the individual employee simply by snapping a pic with their phone. Part of the responsibility of someone working there would be to check the QR code every morning to ensure that no one had come in the night with a jack hammer and concrete...