lightweight encryption of text file

[Steve Holden]

Paul Rubin wrote:
> Steve Holden <steve at holdenweb.com> writes:
>>> Right now, even asking for HTTPS support is too much to ask. Heck,
>>> even asking for the fake HTTPS support to be identified as such is too
>>> much, apparently.
>>>
>> No, Paul, nobody will complain if you *ask* ...
> 
> Er, that wasn't me...
> 
Oh sorry, no more it was.

>> A question I've been asking myself quite a lot recently is how the PSF
>> could, were funding to be available, direct the development of Python in
>> specific directions,...
> 
> Crypto in the stdlib is not a matter of funding or (technical)
> priorities.  It's a policy issue; the maintainers were (at least as of a
> few years ago) concerned about legal restrictions on crypto in some
> jurisdictions causing problems with distributing Python if it included
> crypto.  I know that other systems (Java, Mozilla, etc) include crypto
> but they may have had to jump through some hoops for that purpose.
> 
There are administrative hoops to jump through still in the US to export
cryptographic code. Further, if the standard distribution were to
include it then the requirements of the US government do still come into
play, and it would be a pain to have to have people downloading the
software certify (for example) that they weren't intending to re-export
it to a "prohibited" country.

We can get around some of these issues by retaining the hosting on
mainland Europe rather than in the USA, but these issues do demand
careful study which apparently nobody really has time for at present.

regards
 Steve
-- 
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