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SSH public keys for any GitHub user

github.com

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Re: SSH public keys for any GitHub user

#11

Post by anjbe »

One potentially interesting point of discussion here is to compare GitHub to PGP keyservers. Both provide a means of sharing someone’s keys with a wide audience. GitHub probably has gotten more people actively using SSH keys than are actively using PGP to encrypt or sign material.

Then there’s the more controversial possibility that with such a large userbase, SSH could encroach on what was traditionally PGP’s territory. Giving someone a new account with password “changeme” is already long obsolete. How about when SSH signatures become mainstream? https://mobile.twitter.com/damienmiller/status/1452796122250...

Re: SSH public keys for any GitHub user

#12

Post by nixpulvis »

junon wrote: post #9
nixpulvis wrote: post #8

Funny, I was just trying to use Git for Windows the other day, and was completely unsuccessful without authentication, even just to pull a public repo. Shit's fucked y'all.

What's this have to do with the keys API?

Honestly, nothing really. I just thought it was funny. Imagine needing keys to simply check out the public gardens.

Re: SSH public keys for any GitHub user

#15

Post by selfhoster11 »

nixpulvis wrote: post #8

Funny, I was just trying to use Git for Windows the other day, and was completely unsuccessful without authentication, even just to pull a public repo. Shit's fucked y'all.

You have to pull via HTTPS. SSH checkout is meant for project contributors, which is why IIRC it requires authentication even to pull the code.

Re: SSH public keys for any GitHub user

#16

Post by nixpulvis »

selfhoster11 wrote: post #15
nixpulvis wrote: post #8

Funny, I was just trying to use Git for Windows the other day, and was completely unsuccessful without authentication, even just to pull a public repo. Shit's fucked y'all.

You have to pull via HTTPS. SSH checkout is meant for project contributors, which is why IIRC it requires authentication even to pull the code.

It triggers an oauth popup...

Re: SSH public keys for any GitHub user

#17

Post by scheub »

jonobird1 wrote: post #3

Do you mind expanding on why this is important? As @ezfe says below, it's a public key.

It's not because I think it's exploitable in any way (it's not - public keys are public), but because it's a neat feature I found interesting that many people don't know about. It also has potential use cases, like automatically keeping a machine's authorized_keys up to date with members in a team, or skipping having to ask for someone's public key when sharing access.
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