Libraries! Partial Solution to PGP Windows Wars and Source Code

[There's been a major flame war on pgp-users about the lack of Win3.1 
support, and more than a few cypherpunks have asked about source.]

PGP has always had a policy of making the source code available;
it was one of the big things that let us trust it.
PGP has also been available under a variety of platforms,
whether written/ported by Phil and associates, or ported by others.

Recently, PGP Inc. has come out with several major systems, including
- PGP 3.0 and 3.0.1 pre-alpha code, including libraries,
	which have been published in book form and on the net.
	For portability and compatibility, the most important things
	are the algorithms and file formats used.
- PGP 5.0 with fancy user interface for Win32 only.

I'm assuming that PGP 5.0 is written using the PGP 3.0.1 libraries* -
if they've got any sense, they've used the same libraries with at
most some bug fixes and/or simple new features that they can put out as 
a point release, and limited the Win32-related stuff to GUIs,
interfaces to other Windows programs, and similar non-portable stuff,
some of which can be bullied into working on DOS or Win16
and some of which is too much trouble to crowbar in.
If so, then *you* can do your own GUI work on Win16, MacOS 6, and OS/360,
and be sure of interoperability with Fancy New PGP.
In particular, the user-friendliness front-end programs like pgpclip 
and Private Idaho can use the libraries instead of having to 
pop up DOS subsystems to run.  (PI was very nice with ViaCrypt 2.7.1,
which let everything run as communicating Windows programs.)

Using the libraries also helps us trust the security -
it doesn't mean the GUIware doesn't also send a copy of your passphrase
to aldrich@nsavax.us, but it does let you build interoperable code you
can trust, and it makes it easier to verify that at least the
basic crypto routines are solid.

[* Perhaps I'm naive, and I must confess to not finishing all 
4 volumes of code, but I'd _hope_ they did the right thing...]






#			Thanks;  Bill
# Bill Stewart, +1-415-442-2215 stewarts@ix.netcom.com
# You can get PGP outside the US at ftp.ox.ac.uk/pub/crypto/pgp
#   (If this is a mailing list or news, please Cc: me on replies.  Thanks.)

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

At 12:33 AM 5/30/97 -0700, Bill Stewart wrote:

>- PGP 5.0 with fancy user interface for Win32 only.

Note that 4.5 is Win/32 only but 5.0 is also available for (the latest) 
Macintosh OS.  [So "latest" that Tim May can't run it.]  

DCF

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Version: 5.0 beta
Charset: noconv

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pHPI0wsrV4zv7tTt1b2Gsf+P8h0haY+tTb/tu7F+hCGvvXO1B2bpYM1slTdWuznh
5ZK4Xyud/pk=
=E6ZL
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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

At 08:15 AM 5/30/97 -0700, Tim May wrote:

>Newsflash: With the prodding and help of Vinnie M., I took a day last week
>and installed the latest versions of all of my major applications.  I
>successfully ran the installation on my bootleg copy of PGP 5.0 (obtained
>from my friendly spy), but have not yet spent time integrating it with
>Eudora Pro 3.1, which I understand is possible.
>
>(Please: No helpful suggestions. All of the information I need to do this
>is apparently contained in the docs...I just haven taken the time off from
>doing other things to do this.)

No helpful suggestion here but I wanted to point out that in both instances 
after I installed PGPMail 4.5 in January and PGP for Personal Privacy 5.0
last 
week, I found that the cute little radio buttons had been automagically 
installed in my copy of Eudora Pro 3.0 (they also work with the freeware Lite 
version of 3.0).  They do not appear on the frames of the general program 
"window" because encryption/decryption cannot be used there but if you open a 
message window to create a message or to read a message, there the little 
buttons are.  I am using WIN95 of course.

If the Mac is not as user friendly, I think that's too bad.  Look on the 
message window frames.  Maybe the buttons are there.

I've been frantically signing and encrypting ever since January.  I want PGP 
Inc. to release PGP Disk for WIN95 (it's out for the MAC).  I need a disk 
encryptor that can work with WIN32.

I have even been able to browbeat friends and family into installing the new 
PGP versions.  There's a lot to be said for on-click encryption (or no click 
in the case of 5.0 since you can set signing or encryption or both to be the 
default condition for Eudora.  Hit <Queue> of <Send> and PGP pops up and does 
its thing.


DCF




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OqOS3ZlgX8ciM587g1odTIdbotmjeECz2wyAsZ/detiKshP9sd/xxbyluT+I8/z+
ootLaCTPrEo=
=8v85
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-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In <3.0.1.32.19970530003356.00756ee0@popd.ix.netcom.com>, on 05/30/97 
   at 12:33 AM, Bill Stewart <stewarts@ix.netcom.com> said:

>- PGP 3.0 and 3.0.1 pre-alpha code, including libraries,
>	which have been published in book form and on the net.
>	For portability and compatibility, the most important things
>	are the algorithms and file formats used.

Hi Bill,

Could you point me to a location where 3.0 code is available on the net? I
would be very intrested in this. Also have you heard any word on the
release of source code for PGP Phone? I know that the MIT download site
mentioned that this would be made available but I have yet to see anything
(not intrested in the GUI stuff but would like to see the crytpo & data
compression algorithims).

Thanks,

- -- 
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
William H. Geiger III  http://www.amaranth.com/~whgiii
Geiger Consulting    Cooking With Warp 4.0

Author of E-Secure - PGP Front End for MR/2 Ice
PGP & MR/2 the only way for secure e-mail.
OS/2 PGP 2.6.3a at: http://www.amaranth.com/~whgiii/pgpmr2.html                        
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
 
Tag-O-Matic: Turn your 486 into a Gameboy: Type WIN at C:\>

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O0VlxRUwgUY=
=28u/
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At 4:03 AM -0700 5/30/97, frissell@panix.com wrote:

>At 12:33 AM 5/30/97 -0700, Bill Stewart wrote:
>
>>- PGP 5.0 with fancy user interface for Win32 only.
>
>Note that 4.5 is Win/32 only but 5.0 is also available for (the latest)
>Macintosh OS.  [So "latest" that Tim May can't run it.]
                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Newsflash: With the prodding and help of Vinnie M., I took a day last week
and installed the latest versions of all of my major applications.  I
successfully ran the installation on my bootleg copy of PGP 5.0 (obtained
from my friendly spy), but have not yet spent time integrating it with
Eudora Pro 3.1, which I understand is possible.

(Please: No helpful suggestions. All of the information I need to do this
is apparently contained in the docs...I just haven taken the time off from
doing other things to do this.)

For those who know and care: System 7.5.3, MT Newwatcher 2.3.1, Eudora Pro
3.1, Netscape Navigator Gold 3.01, and various UUdecoders, helper apps, etc.

To again paraphrase my .sig: "There's something wrong when it takes a day
or more to upgrade apps to be compatible and there's no visible
productivity improvement."

Actually, I used to follow the Macintosh technical stuff more closely. I
read "MacWorld" and "MacUser" cover to cover every month, I sometimes read
"Mac Technical Journal" and other technical sources, I messed around with
ResEdit, had a couple of volumes of "Inside Macintosh," had C and C++
avialable, and all that stuff. Upgrading from one version of a system to
another was not too stressful.

However, in the last several years, probably echoing the path many of you
have taken, my focus has shifted to a more "platform-agnostic" path,
centered on the Net and Web and on writing messages and participating in
Net virtual communities (like Cypherpunks).  I just want my main Internet
apps to keep working as they have, and don't much care about Apple's stuff
like "CyberDog" and PowerQuickToolsPro, or whatever.

Sadly, the Mac OS is now very bloated, and I no longer have the time or
interest to read the details and upgrade the many apps to the minor rev
levels needed to ensure compatibility. (So sue me.) Once a "constellation"
of apps is running smoothly, I am reluctant to change any of them unless
the benefits are very clear.

(And I could see no significant changes in going from System 7.1.3 to
7.5.3...the Mac OS is of course still missing basic OS features such as
multitasking and memory protection.)

Vinnie M. tells me I should do the upgrade to System 7.6...I think I'll
pass on this for now.

--Tim May



There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."

On Fri, May 30, 1997 at 08:15:24AM -0700, Tim May wrote:
[...]
> Vinnie M. tells me I should do the upgrade to System 7.6...I think I'll
> pass on this for now.
> 
> --Tim May

You should upgrade to Linux.

-- 
Kent Crispin				"No reason to get excited",
kent@songbird.com			the thief he kindly spoke...
PGP fingerprint:   B1 8B 72 ED 55 21 5E 44  61 F4 58 0F 72 10 65 55
http://songbird.com/kent/pgp_key.html