On Thu, May 04, 2006 at 04:52:43PM -0700, Jon Callas wrote:
On 3 May 2006, at 3:30 PM, David Shaw wrote:
Squeaking in under the wire.
Section 7, Cleartext signature framework says:
It is desirable to sign a textual octet stream without ASCII
armoring the stream itself, so the signed text is still readable
without special software.
Suggest "It is sometimes desirable to sign ..."
(i.e. add a "sometimes". It's not always desirable to clearsign).
That really is a nit, and one that I disagree with. I will also admit
to crotchetiness today.
Saying "X is desirable" does not imply "~X is undesirable." There is
a middle ground between, "It's desirable to be able to park at the
airport" and "Taxis should be banned." Saying, I like ice cream does
not imply that I hate flan. I read that 'graph as saying
"Clearsigning, good." That's it.
The text struck me as implying "Clearsigning, you should" (as in it is
desirable to clearsign in preference to the other type of signing).
Total nit, of course, and I doubt anyone actually thinks that, but
there was a small "huh?" pause when I read past that section.
Here's a counterproposal: "It is desirable to be able to sign..."
thus explicitly saying that it's an option. How's that? Better, worse
than yours? Or should we just leave it as is?
I like your solution better.
David