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There was a post about shamir secret sharing recently by levchin (and chaos that it caused at paypal): https://max.levch.in/post/724289457144070144/shamir-secre

There was a post about shamir secret sharing recently by levchin (and chaos that it caused at paypal): https://max.levch.in/post/724289457144070144/shamir-secret-sharing-its-3am-paul-the-head-of https://max.levch.in/post/724289457144070144/shamir-secret-s... This is 100% one of my favorite algorithms, but I have to say I've started to wonder if I just have an academic fascination with it and the practical use cases are more limited (limiting?) than I think

j2kun 3y ago
> I've started to wonder if I just have an academic fascination with it and the practical use cases are more limited (limiting?) than I think I'm currently writing an entire book based on this concern: pmfpbook.org
- obeavs 3y ago
  And the answer is...
UncleMeat 3y ago
Shamir's Secret Sharing is basically perfect for nerdsniping. It is simple enough to understand without hardly any crypto background or advanced math. You basically just need a bit of algebra. It is surprising that it is possible at all. It has a clearly visible concrete use case (at least at first). It is something that you can implement yourself (though there are still footguns). This, IMO, leads to its wild overrepresentation in discussion forums and even overrepresentation in industry solutions.
scubbo 3y ago
Great story, thank you! > I've started to wonder if I just have an academic fascination with it and the practical use cases are more limited (limiting?) than I think I don't think the linked post should prompt such wondering? (It's not clear if you are drawing a causal link between the two) It was an issue with the interface _to_ the algorithm, not with the algorithm itself.