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Command-Line Crypto From Phil Zimmermann, Again
They aren't paying for a pretty logo. The real reason is that the GUI version of PGP (along with other graphical encryption software, like the GNU Privacy Guard) aren't even in the same market.
Casual computer users have never laid out much money for encryption. The widespread use of PGP in its original incarnation (during the era of Zimmermann's prosecution for allowing it to be exported) can be attributed as much to its zero-dollars price as to a generalized interest in privacy. Home and hobby users are not cut out from buying Veridis's software -- for about a hundred dollars, you can buy a personal use version of the command-line version. The real money isn't in individuals keeping their tax records private, though -- Zimmermann and Veridis, like NAI (whose PGP-based product is called E-Business Server) are really aiming at commercial and governmental datacenters, and for customers willing to accept a much higher pricetag.
Insurance companies, banks, credit card processing centers, state records -- anywhere financial or otherwise confidential records are exchanged or stored en masse -- these all need encryption which works at the command-line. More precisely, they need crypto software which can work without direct human intervention at all. Instead, massive data centers need tools which can be called by scripts and other programs, so servers, or server farms, can spend their time crunching numbers rather than drawing pictures.
The name is familiar ... The commercial competition FileCrypt faces is familial -- it's the same product from NAI (sold from their McAffee division) that prevents Zimmermann and Veridis from calling their software PGP, even though NAI now labels their product E-Business Server. And though many companies have homegrown cryptographic solutions, Zimmermann says he knows of no other packaged software offering the high-volume encryption that the products from NAI or Veridis do.
And, he emphasizes, what they do is very similar. He says of the Veridis command-line product compared to NAI's, "It's drop-in compatible, identical in operation ... you could run the same perl scripts, the same command-line arguments."
If you want to buy Veridis' encryption software licensed for electronic commerce (not one-person use), hold onto your wallet: the price jumps about 50 times, to a shade under $5000, which Zimmermann describes as a bargain -- at least compared to the competition.
(Prices on the McAfee website show a one-year subscription-based license for E-Business Server starting at $6,875; $14,375 buys a perpetual license, with no included support.)
Both sides of that fence. And of competing in this case with a product that originated from his own crypto software (and his own company, PGP Inc.), Zimmermann says "I just don't really think of that as my product any more. It's in the hands of NAI, all the engineers have been fired. I just don't feel psychologically connected to that product." To look and not to sell. Especially when it comes to cryptographic software, code openness is considered not just a virtue but a near necessity. Peer-review and independent auditing, after all, are about the only ways you can tell that software isn't shuttling credit card numbers to the wrong person.The business model of selling high-priced crypto software at thousands of dollars per processor doesn't mesh well with gratis software, though. To that end, Zimmermann says the FileCrypt code will be soon be available for download and inspection under terms which he says will be similar to those under which users can download the code for PGP Corporation's version of the PGP-based desktop software. (PGP Corporation's terms are available though their source code page).
Insurance companies and health care organizations are increasingly relying on PGP in its various forms to met requirements for confidentiality and security of data imposed by the HIPAA legislation. Zimmermann's latest work has a potentially huge market this year, and potentially next year too, if there are more delays with implementing the "enforcement" aspects of the law.
I find with any GUI program, if there is no command line control, it becomes half as useful. Scripting and automation are what make computers beautiful.
The command line is much quicker too. Don't want to type out a million options and flags? Then make an alias... one word is all it takes to run enormous computations.
In the case of PGP, the only GUI integration I need is in e-mail, and thankfully Evolution provides it. The rest of its use is on the command line, making encrytped tar archives, and saving other information.
I don't think he was referring to cron, or at, or the windows scheduler. He was referring to being able to actually put an application into the scheduler. It's not useful when running someapp.exe just opens a gui. Then you just end up with the gui openned on regularly scheduled increments.
Let's be honest here. No-one in their right mind would use the PGP command line since something much better - GnuPG - came along, and this has been a while ago (they aren't migrating, they've often completed migration).
What Phil's trying to do here is sell a piece of software for an extremely high price which competes directly - directly, not just on the same turf but on the actual same blade of grass - with now well-proven software which is entirely free (beer and speech).
This is not a smart business plan. Only chance Veridis has is fast talking, name leverage and selling good support - trouble is, GPG doesn't actually need support as such, the software doesn't need to be, and isn't, really all that complex. Documentation should be enough, because it works already. The source is even friendly enough to adapt and build around for your own purpses, unless you're a moron, and morons should really not be adminning boxes you wanted to use strong crypto on.
I can't see a single reason you'd want to actually use Filecrypt over gnupg, especially given the high price tag... anyone?
Another ability of a command line version could be in clusters.
Imagine someone wants to have strong key based encryption for a growing database with sensitive information. That someone could use huge muliprocessor, or clusters of smaller (or even just as large) computers to ecrypt that data, and archive it for another party or even themselves. Normally such a thing would take a while on a single computer, but with many computers working together, it could conceivably instantaneous.
A robust command line application could easily do that with currently availble cluster systems non-prepiertary to PGP. Someone with a cluster already built wouldn't even consider a GUI program.
This guy has legitmately been a martyred hero to freedom. In my book that should afford him a lot of goodwill in his business ventures. Plus, it's interesting to see where his later life is taking him. Like, we don't chat about how Linus is making out at Transmeta? And not even any martyrdom points for him. Jeeze.
"with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
How do I use AT when all the tools I am likely to call are GUI based?
At sometime launch some program, click to the appropriate tab, uncheck the appropriate box.
War is necrophilia.
The reason command line tools are very useful is for cron jobs. I dont know how many times on a windows machine I wish that there was an command line tool to do something.
/?. And if you're really into command lines, look up Windows Scripting Host on MSDN
Here's a free clue, kid: just because you don't know how to do it, doesn't mean it can't be done. Like the other poster said, at
Here's a free clue, kid: someone posts that command line tools are useful for in cron jobs, and that many times he wishes there was a "command line" tool to do something. (not schedule something)
60 people post a reply to him on slashdot to inform him of the command "at" which allows a windows machine to schedule things.
What do you do? what.. DO.. you... DO?
Heck, just add a 61st post which tries to put the original poster in his place by answering a question he didn't even ask! It's the slashdot way!
Not that those other 60 posters aren't just as clueless... but you all should learn that if you don't understand someone's post... you should just keep your trap shut.
karma? who cares... flame away.
But what it can't do is be a drop in replacements for PGP-- in terms of command syntax and output file format.
:)
It probably could be, but it's true that it isn't. However, the former problem can be mostly solved with pgpgpg, and the latter problem is pretty rare in my experience.
Anyway, all the tools I use have been updated to work with GPG. I think some of them may have even dropped PGP support.
Right click on "My Computer", then choose
- Properties
- Advanced
- Settings
which then opens the "User Profile" dialog box.Now select the source account and click the "Copy To" button, which opens the "Copy To" dialog box.
Now complete the "Copy Profile To" field, by either clicking on the "Browse" button and navigating the resultant dialog box, or by simply entering the path into the edit box.
Now click the "Change" button in the lower frame. Depending on your security setup, do another series of steps to select the target user account. Now click the "Ok" button in the "Copy To" Dialog.
Now you might wish to click on the "Change Type" button, and select the appropriate type from the resultant radio button group, depending on whether or not you're doing roaming profiles.
Are you catching the drift?
Ive never seen it more easily done than the loose equivalent of these commands:
But really, all kidding aside, I'd love to see how one is supposed to do what I described in the first portion of my comment from a command line or cron script in Windows.
If that's doable through WSH or some other new tools, then well, that's great! But howcome nobody knows about the interfaces? Because they don't exist? I'm inclined to think so; or perhaps not until the recent past at best. At any rate, the commands for UNIX are tried and true; no brainers. They're not going to change any time soon and you can bet they'll pretty much work wherever you go.
But really, how do you do that in Windows?
Where's your Microsoft Bob when you need him?