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Email Encryption Software Relies on One Guy, Who Is Going Broke

propublica.org

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Re: Email Encryption Software Relies on One Guy, Who Is Going Broke

#51

Post by shackenberg »

pyre wrote: post #17
smcl wrote: post #13

I had no idea this project (and others) had so few contributors. I'd love to be involved in some Open Source project but I always feel like "yeh there's probably millions of people far more talented than me wanting to contribute" and I've no idea how to start. Some people suggest taking a look at the open bug lists for software you use frequently, but on the few occasions I've tried that (python, gcc, and a couple of…

> I've ended up digging through lists of tough bugs each with fairly impressive sounding discussions by people who are way more familiar with the whole ecosystem than I am and it's sort of intimidating. Sometimes it's small things, like documentation. For example: http://bugs.python.org/issue17701

Good point, but you have to admit that the site does not look inviting at all and that a novice has no idea where to start.

Re: Email Encryption Software Relies on One Guy, Who Is Going Broke

#52

Post by Torgo »

andrewla wrote: post #22

For bitcoin donations, you can go to [1], which gives the address as 12LKeo24XCzgz6ASSxcUa8BvUfzkEyCpGq [2]. The address is not generated per user, and is dedicated to GnuPG. [1] https://www.wauland.de/en/donation.nojs.html [2] https://blockchain.info/address/12LKeo24XCzgz6ASSxcUa8BvUfzk...

Can someone signal boost this on bitcointalk or other bitcoin communities? They are huge users of PGP. I don't have accounts on any of those sites or I'd do it myself.

Re: Email Encryption Software Relies on One Guy, Who Is Going Broke

#53

Post by tptacek »

mseebach wrote: post #49
tptacek wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The task of maintaining GPG isn't principally cryptographic. GPG is one of those classic un-fun projects that the open source community is notorious for neglecting. So the problem isn't finding and funding cryptographic experts to work on it; the problem is finding Werner Koches who are willing to take on the slog of making sure GPG continues to work. Look at how many crappy, trivially broken crypto messaging systems…

Whether the work is "principally cryptographic" or not means fantastically little for it's business value, what matters is that the fraction of the value Werner is capturing is almost unmeasurably small. What Werner needs isn't donations, it's a vehicle for capturing some of the value he's creating. The idea I suggested (a consultancy retainer) is a way of converting his name into cash. At 10 hours a month, his funct…

No, I don't. You can trace some of my open frustration with crappy message crypto apps to this, by the way.

Re: Email Encryption Software Relies on One Guy, Who Is Going Broke

#54

Post by ctdonath »

But wait, I thought fame and accomplishment and helping lots of people were supposed to be enough for software authors, that somehow making people pay for software was evil, that it's OK if everyone just copies your source code and uses it, that an Open And Free Internet would be self-sustaining?

/sarc

Re: Email Encryption Software Relies on One Guy, Who Is Going Broke

#56

Post by sanderjd »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #34

I wonder sometimes if this is the legacy that RMS was thinking about. Sometimes, in my more cynical moments, it seems like we have somehow managed to trick a whole generation of programmers into giving "free stuff" to the world, enabling the creation of the very successful mega corporations which have then kept the value for themselves. Would it be impossible to create some sort of stipend program at FSF? After all t…

It's a big problem with the culture of (a lot of) the software development community. Having a culture of demanding access to the source of your software is a good thing, but having a culture of demanding all software for no cost is a bad thing.

Re: Email Encryption Software Relies on One Guy, Who Is Going Broke

#57

Post by rmc »

agwa wrote: post #4

Calling GnuPG "email encryption software" really understates its importance. It's also used in countless applications to encrypt data at rest, and GPG signatures are used to secure the distribution of software. For instance, GPG is an essential part of the package managers of Debian, Ubuntu, and RedHat. Here is a link to the donation page: https://gnupg.org/donate/index.html

Why aren't those organisations paying him money?

Re: Email Encryption Software Relies on One Guy, Who Is Going Broke

#58

Post by sogen »

kogir wrote: post #7

This is sad but not super surprising. Historically, if you had money and wanted a reasonable UI and cleaner integrations, you bought PGP (now from Symantec). GPG was always for people unwilling to pay. For the record I donated. I'm just pointing out that writing something that's bundled and distributed as part of something else means nobody thinks about your project, or in many cases even realizes they're using it.

How can a UX designer help in the GUI aspect?

Who to contact?

Re: Email Encryption Software Relies on One Guy, Who Is Going Broke

#60

Post by duckingtest »

I think he should start a US nonprofit, or even better start cooperating with an international one, as that would allow people to deduct donations from their income. It's a lot easier to donate if you know that otherwise 30%-50% of that would go to the ever hungry state...

edit: It turns out every EU citizen can deduct a donation to GnuPG from their incomes!

https://www.wauland.de/en/donation.html#61

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