Subject: Re: encryption
From: WJCarpenter (bill-abisource@carpenter.ORG)
Date: Mon Apr 23 2001 - 14:02:48 CDT
This is another perfect example of something that is better done under
a loadable module or subprocess or whatever externalized framework
than being built into the base product.
You want encryption in a word processor because you want to protect it
from prying eyes while it lives on your own disk, or you want to
protect it while you share it with a small number of collaborators.
In any case, you don't have to worry so much about everybody having
compatible software. Even in the collaboration case, it will be by
agreement of the parties. You either have the abiPGP plugin or the
abiSMIME plugin or abiRawBlowfish plugin or whatever, or you jointly
decide to all get it.
So, a framework which just had a tag with a few parameters and called
out to something else for the legwork would save a lot of trouble.
The parameters would be something like the packaging format, the
algorithm name, the keyId, not much more. You just need enough info
to load/call the right external thing.
There are lots of features like this (in fact, this isn't too distant
from the graphics format discussion), but the political restrictions
for encryption almost mandate the externalized framework approach.
Putting any kind of encryption into AbiWord itself seems like a huge
mistake.
-- bill@carpenter.ORG (WJCarpenter) PGP 0x91865119 38 95 1B 69 C9 C6 3D 25 73 46 32 04 69 D6 ED F3
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