GPG and Me
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GPG and Me
1–10 of 267 posts
Re: GPG and Me
#2As someone who trains human rights defenders and journalists on this stuff...I couldn't agree more. Often things end up being an unfortunate tradeoff between trying to get PGP working for people and having to settle for something less. Particularly in the developing world, which lower computer literacy rates - this is a significant problem.
To be fair, at least Whisper Systems and the Guardian Project are doing great work to try to make encryption in various implementations work better for the average user. And let's be fair, groups like these and the LiberationTech community runs on a shoestring in comparison to even one large commercial tool.
Re: GPG and Me
#3I'm eagerly waiting for something better to come up. There hasn't been anything satisfying so far, so I keep encrypting truly confidential communication with GPG, and it gets the job done.
Re: GPG and Me
#4The old adage is that perfect is the enemy of good enough, but the author is claiming that GPG isn't even good enough. I have to somewhat disagree. While the ideal product in this space would be as easy to use as clicking a 'Like' button, and just as ubiquitous, GPG works well enough for now.
The most sensitive use case for GPG has to be sending correspondence that, if decrypted, could put you in severe physical danger. If the choice is between life and death, relative freedom or torture in some black site dungeon, the choice is clear. Using GPG is preferable to death or torture.
This doesn't exactly seem like a ringing endorsement, but if these are the stakes, then you are probably willing to read the equivalent of 40% of Fahrenheit 451 to be secure. You are probably willing to learn to practice good opsec.
It would be fantastic if GPG were displaced by something equally trustworthy and secure, but more user-friendly, and I look forward to the day that happens. But I think that GPG is the best we have, and we should be appreciative of that.
Re: GPG and Me
#5I appreciate the sentiment overall but I have the exact opposite reaction when somebody emails me with a GPG signed or encrypted email. I immediately think it's great that somebody actually cares enough to voluntarily use it. That the contents of the email are deemed important enough that they don't want it sent in the clear.
Re: GPG and Me
#6The old adage is that perfect is the enemy of good enough, but the author is claiming that GPG isn't even good enough. I have to somewhat disagree. While the ideal product in this space would be as easy to use as clicking a 'Like' button, and just as ubiquitous, GPG works well enough for now. The most sensitive use case for GPG has to be sending correspondence that, if decrypted, could put you in severe physical dang…
I use GPG often and it gets the work done. It might be the author is not happy with the long process of using GPG and the shortcomings of the documentation. I think if GPG is integrated with more applications, it might have a lot more users.
Re: GPG and Me
#7The old adage is that perfect is the enemy of good enough, but the author is claiming that GPG isn't even good enough. I have to somewhat disagree. While the ideal product in this space would be as easy to use as clicking a 'Like' button, and just as ubiquitous, GPG works well enough for now. The most sensitive use case for GPG has to be sending correspondence that, if decrypted, could put you in severe physical dang…
Using X is preferable to death or torture.
That's what I call faint praise.
Re: GPG and Me
#8As a member of the encrypt-everything clique I have to say, though Moxie has a point, Gnupg is infinitely better than alternative of nothing at all. Until someone comes up with a solution that preserves its power and flexibility and marries it with a functional UX -- I shall keep using it
Re: GPG and Me
#9The old adage is that perfect is the enemy of good enough, but the author is claiming that GPG isn't even good enough. I have to somewhat disagree. While the ideal product in this space would be as easy to use as clicking a 'Like' button, and just as ubiquitous, GPG works well enough for now. The most sensitive use case for GPG has to be sending correspondence that, if decrypted, could put you in severe physical dang…
Using X is preferable to death or torture. That's what I call faint praise.
faint? I'd rather read 100 pages of man than die.
Seems like a meager price to ensure another 70 years of life.
Re: GPG and Me
#10When (if?) Google's End-to-End matures, it would be a game-changer for a lot of the less savvy users of GPG that I know.