ietf-openpgp
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Re: PGP 6.5.1 - word list and SDAs?

1999-07-07 06:44:07
"Will" == Will Price <wprice(_at_)cyphers(_dot_)net> writes:

 Will> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1

 Will> Thomas Roessler wrote:
 It would have been nice to have had some specifications on _this_
list _beforehand_:

- What do the SDAs look like?  Not everyone is using the same
platform, so documentation of the data format would have been
nice.

 Will> Self Decrypting Archives use a proprietary format for which
 Will> there is no reason for us to publish specs beyond the source
 Will> code we already publish.  SDAs decrypt themselves.  No other
 Will> program should attempt to read them, and we will change the
 Will> format at will frequently.  Each implementation of SDA in PGP
 Will> uses highly platform dependent features.  There are not two
 Will> ends of this wire.  SDAs are irrelevant to this list, and have
 Will> no relation to the OpenPGP format.

I assume SDAs decrypt themselves only if the recipient is using the
same CPU type and OS as the sender.  Since PGP is in other ways a
portable application, I don't think your argument holds water.  What
if someone sends me an SDA and I want to decrypt it, but I can't just
run it because he's using some random OS I don't use?  Or I'm using a
Sparc?  

        paul