On 01/30/2009 07:54 PM, Jon Callas wrote:
I'll add in that I think adding PNG is fine with me, and that's why
I'll also be devil's advocate. So what?
I think that "because it would be cool" is a fine answer. We should
say it, if that's why.
Good point! FWIW, i actually have a couple specific implementation
possibilities in mind, because i'm interested in seeing an expansion of
places where OpenPGP is used [0]. The following ideas don't have
anything close to a concrete implementation yet, but transparent PNGs
would make them even more aesthetically appealing.
* instant messaging: OTR [1] is a platform-agnostic IM
encryption/authentication layer, which currently uses RSA keys for
mutual authentication. I'd love to see OTR be able to use the OpenPGP
web of trust to handle the actual authentication (though it currently
does not). If it did, then PNG User Attribute support would allow
graphical OTR-compliant IM implementations to automatically select
hackergotchi-style images for pretty IM conversation displays (think
"word-balloon" style).
* I'd like to see better cryptographic verification tools that take
advantage of OpenPGP's WoT to display human-comprehensible descriptions
of relevant trust paths to an attempted validation. Since most people
use graphical environments, and most people recognize people by their
faces even more quickly than by their names, it would be great to show
such trust paths with images in them (e.g. "Mary says that this is Joe"
is useful, but a picture of Mary saying "this is Joe" would be even more
appealing to many users).
Plus, it would be cool ;)
These are just some ideas to chew on. i wish i had more time to work on
such craziness.
--dkg
[0] http://web.monkeysphere.info/ is the furthest advanced
implementation of any push to extend the reach of the OpenPGP
web-of-trust that i'm involved in.
[1] http://www.cypherpunks.ca/otr/
signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature