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I don't get this just like I don't get the bitcoin "hubs" or "wallets" or whatever they are. Your crypto keys, like your bitcoins, are just small text files.

by rsync 13y ago

I don't get this just like I don't get the bitcoin "hubs" or "wallets" or whatever they are. Your crypto keys, like your bitcoins, are just small text files. They are nothing special at all and can be completely managed, and secured, on your own local systems. There is nothing but fragility and loss down this road and people that really need security in their comms will not expose themselves to that fragility (just like smart folks probably weren't putting their bitcoins in third party "wallets").

endlessvoid94 13y ago
It's about making these things easy to use for more people. For people who don't have the time / energy / desire to learn about the systems they use, in order to use them.
- rsync 13y ago
  Yes, I hear that part of the pitch, but in my mind the people that have a need for the security that encrypted messaging provides will need to grasp it deeply enough to not need the handholding. And conversely, the "consumers" that aren't compelled by strict requirements to understand how text files work don't need the security anyway. So then who needs the keybase ?
  - endlessvoid94 13y ago
    > the people that have a need for the security that encrypted messaging provides will need to grasp it deeply enough to not need the handholding. I'd say this is a pretty big assumption. Wouldn't it be great to live in a world where you didn't need to understand it to be protected by it?
    - rsync 13y ago
      Yes, it would be great. I don't think that world exists. I think this is true in all realms - not just cryptography or infosec...
- zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 13y ago
  But then again, it's a bit like making democracy easier by having only one party on the ballot? That is to say: Making things easier in a way that undermines the whole point of why you should be doing it in the first place kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?
wyager 13y ago
>They are nothing special at all and can be completely managed, and secured, on your own local systems. Yes, but somehow people manage to keep screwing it up in spectacular ways.

by rsync 13y ago

endlessvoid94 13y ago

It's about making these things easy to use for more people. For people who don't have the time / energy / desire to learn about the systems they use, in order to use them.

rsync 13y ago
Yes, I hear that part of the pitch, but in my mind the people that have a need for the security that encrypted messaging provides will need to grasp it deeply enough to not need the handholding. And conversely, the "consumers" that aren't compelled by strict requirements to understand how text files work don't need the security anyway. So then who needs the keybase ?
- endlessvoid94 13y ago
  > the people that have a need for the security that encrypted messaging provides will need to grasp it deeply enough to not need the handholding. I'd say this is a pretty big assumption. Wouldn't it be great to live in a world where you didn't need to understand it to be protected by it?
  - rsync 13y ago
    Yes, it would be great. I don't think that world exists. I think this is true in all realms - not just cryptography or infosec...
zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 13y ago
But then again, it's a bit like making democracy easier by having only one party on the ballot? That is to say: Making things easier in a way that undermines the whole point of why you should be doing it in the first place kinda defeats the purpose, doesn't it?

wyager 13y ago

>They are nothing special at all and can be completely managed, and secured, on your own local systems. Yes, but somehow people manage to keep screwing it up in spectacular ways.