Finally, one question that you didn't answer is whether there is an existing
repository of RIPEM/X509 certificates?
I assume that RIPEM provides the ability to locally cache certificates that
are
received from other users (embedded in their messages). Is any other form of
key
distribution supported and/or popular? I'm trying to contrast the number of
RIPEM
users with the number of PGP users. Sevearl weeks ago, Rhys Weatherley sent
the
following in a private message -- does this sound reasonable?
On the question of which has greater deployment, PEM or PGP: I fetched
the RIPEM key database from ripem.msu.edu this morning. It was about
200k in length. The PGP database is still arriving in my mailbox as I
write this and is getting close to 4 Mb.
Presumably the lengths are in bytes, not number of users. Since I don't know
the
number of bytes per user, I can't calculate the number of users. Does 600
RIPEM
users and 12,000 PGP users sound about right?
600 keys in the database on ripem.msu.edu is similar to the numbers
I've gotten from Mark Riordan lately. This database is implemented as
a real-time lookup system using Unix sockets. As such, the DOS, RIPEM
Mac and other users wouldn't necessarily put their keys there. (I
know I don't.) You are also right that RIPEM maintains its own local
databases, which is its primary mode of operation.
- Jeff