Can GnuPG Deliver?

jso888 writes "After Network Associates decided to halt further development of PGP, I'm sure that many users like myself who use non-CLI platforms most of the time, wondered "what next?" (PGP Freeware is not an option, since it's tied into the Network Associates product). Salon today has a nice article on GnuPG, the Open PGP/GNU alternative. The article highlights one of the problems with Open Source software today: its "by the geek, for the geek" nature, which by and large places barriers to mass adoption of OSS, especially important capabilities like personal encryption. One of the nice things about NAI PGP was its ease of use and commercial polish. It was easy to install and use, and integrated nicely with Windows software like Eudora and ICQ. GnuPG, admittedly, isn't quite there yet, the article concludes. That's too bad; given the privacy-hostile world we live in, the last thing we need is another barrier to widespread cryptography adoption."

Comments

Re:secrets and PGP

[mlk]

Your email client *should* do that for you, but o/c due to the fact no of the front ends are any good, they dont :)

"by the geek for the geek...."

[oobeleck]

"The article highlights one of the problems with Open Source software today: its "by the geek, for the geek" nature, which by and large places barriers to mass adoption of OSS"

I will probably get moded down to -50 Troll or Flamebait for this but here it goes....

Open Source has many problems but "by the geek for the geek" is NOT one of them. For some reason people seem to think that Open Source exists to serve the greater of humanity, and end human strife, etc.....(Whatever noble cause you can think of) But Open Source software is not primarily "by the geek for the geek".

It is primarily "by the geek for him/herself". The reason that there are not a bunch of pretty GUI front-ends that really wow people is because the people who code them don't need/want a GUI front-end.

If people want pretty front-ends then they should code them themselves.... It is easy to stand back and lambast the Open Source community for not being more user friendly but I have a news flash for ya.
Most Open Source developers don't care.... Open Source is about coding: what you want. Build a front-end yourself.

OSS developers code for fun, for their own sense of accomplishment, and for personal use.

As far a "mass adoption", If people are too lazy to spend the time to work through and figure out a CLI then too bad for them. If your privacy is really that important to you then you will have to "tough it out" like the rest of the geeks.

My .02

The Solution is Simple

[xanadu-xtroot.com]

Just ROT13 your mail and no one can break it.

er...

Wait, nevermind...