ietf-openpgp
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Re: PGP/MIME implementors: text mode vs. binary mode?

2001-04-14 11:11:41
From: Ulf =?iso-8859-1?Q?M=F6ller?= <ulf(_at_)fitug(_dot_)de>
On Tue, Feb 13, 2001 at 03:59:37PM -0800, hal(_at_)finney(_dot_)org wrote:

I can tell you that on message receipt, the commercial versions of PGP
from Network Associates DO hash trailing whitespace on PGP/MIME messages.
That is, they are sensitive to the presence of trailing whitespace and
it is included in the hash.  This is true regardless of whether the
signature type byte is text or binary mode.  That may or may not be
compatible with the spec but that is how these versions work.

Then why did you guys refuse to change the OpenPGP specification when
the inconsistency was pointed out well before RFC 2440 was published?

First, my description above referred to the behavior of NAI's commercial
implementation of PGP on PGP/MIME messages.  RFC 2440 does not discuss
PGP/MIME messages, so it would not be appropriate to put such information
into RFC 2440.

Second, RFC 2440 is not perfect and does have errors.  These are not the
result of stubborn refusal to make changes and insistence on putting out
an imperfect draft.  Rather, mistakes are made in both the drafting and
editing process, and sometimes comments are overlooked.

Hal