04-21-07 12:13 AM
"Thomas J. Boschloo" <nospam@hccnet.nl> wrote:
>
> I have to disagree. There is a protocol specification like the RFCs for
> usenet. Any application can implement that protocol (with MUSTs, SHOULDs
> and MAYs) and the more the better because if one branch of software is
> broken, others will ensure your privacy.
You're not disagreeing, you're restating exactly what I said. There was
a general "guideline" in place regarding what all remailers should do,
but remailers themselves used off the shelf software in a "cobbled
together" fashion to implement it.
You're confusing "RFC's", which are ideas, with the actual
implementations of an idea. Partly because my usage of "design
specification" was vague and lead you down that wrong road. ;)
> Right now, if a serious flaw is discovered in the server part of
> mixmaster, a lot of good remailers are affected and all users having
> used them are at danger of losing their 'privates' (sorry, bad SK joke)
This is a good thing. Not only does it mean serious flaws in a given
remailer are far more likely to be discovered, they can be fixed
efficiently. Without this sort of standardization there would be more
serious flaws, they'd be far less likely to be discovered, correcting
them would be hit and miss even in the best case scenario of them being
unearthed, and the overall security of the remailer network would be
considerably less than it is as a result.
Nothing is perfect. Flaws of all types are going to pop up from time to
time. Standardization makes them manageable. Willy-nilly bastardization
of even a good idea only promotes more, unmanageable problems. The idea
that flaws in a system have less impact when everyone just "does their
own thing" is way out of touch with reality.
And it doesn't even scratch the surface of "reality". So called serious
problems would be the least of our worries. It would be the relatively
minor problems that would cause the most trouble. I remember it
actually being that way in the good ol' days. Different PGP versions
causing breakage and huge "black holes" in the network, for instance.
There's absolutely nothing good about operators rolling their own
remailer software. If that weren't true the current remailer network
would be little more than the collection of third party utilities and a
few scripts that it started out as, and Mixminion wouldn't be removing
the last major chunk of outside influence. ;)
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