> SSH could really use a better default key fingerprint. It's 42 characters of base64. You can get an ASCII graphic for the host key with the VisualHostKey opt

> SSH could really use a better default key fingerprint. It's 42 characters of base64. You can get an ASCII graphic for the host key with the VisualHostKey option. For example: ssh -o VisualHostKey=yes tty.sdf.org Alternatively, you can set this option permanently in the SSH client configuration like this: echo VisualHostKey yes >> ~/.ssh/config ssh tty.sdf.org Here is an example output: $ ssh -o VisualHostKey=yes tty.sdf.org Host key fingerprint is SHA256:ZjwbO7AU8rHJExYrmZS2LqGZ7WfdoELfMrF54W92PYA +--[ED25519 256]--+ | ... | | .oo o | | .=.* | | . .* B | | = o O S. | |+ + o.o*E=. | | o o O.++ o | | o X = +.. o | | + + +.. . | +----[SHA256]-----+ user@tty.sdf.org's password: This graphic looks like a pigeon to me. Similarly, the one for github.com looks like a cat to me. For each server I connect to via SSH I know what the ASCII art for the host key looks like. This familiarity aids in performing TOFU in a hassle-free manner.