[Mailman-Developers] Mailman and GPG.

Barry A. Warsaw barry@wooz.org
Wed, 8 Nov 2000 14:42:34 -0500 (EST)


    Omri> I may be itnerested in doing this as an exercise to learn
    Omri> Python.

I'm not one to discourage anybody's motivation for learning Python, so
go for it.  I think Chuq and JC have outlined the concerns and issues
nicely, so I won't add much else other than to say that I /hope/ you'd
be able to add the bits you'd need without forking Mailman.  There
should be enough pluggable architecture to add what you need as an
extension without major architectural changes.  If not, then post your
ideas here and we can discuss them.

Having said that, my own personal opinion is that this isn't very
useful for a general tool.  IMO, encryption and security will never
passed the Grandma Test: could it be easy enough to understand and do
correctly that your grandmother would use it?  Encryption is
complicated and security protocols are even harder to understand and
implement right, let alone do so in a way that Normal People can
grasp.  I'm pessimistic that a pervasively encrypted environment will
ever really exist, or will even be deemed necessary by the fast armies
of grandmas on the 'net.

(unlike web and email, which my son's grandma can do without much
trouble)

Let us know how it goes though.  It definitely tickles my
geek-libertarian funny bone! :)

-Barry