Timothy C. May wrote:
It pains me to often be the one who throws cold water on what seems to be a good idea, and what comes from a well-intentioned person. But I have to call 'em as I see 'em. And maybe I'm wrong. But here are my thoughts.[..] 1. The CD-ROM "freezes" the various programs, archives, etc. at the moment the files are finalized and the CD-ROMs are pressed (or burned individually on a CD-R, at somewhat higher per-copy price). If the author of the CD-ROM is not committed to updating the CD-ROM at frequent intervals--say, every few months--then the programs will exhibit "version decay" and be nearly useless.
A very good point... But that depends on the crypto put on the CD-ROM. Some files aren't as liable to version-decay, especially source codes and papers (which IMO is more useful than fully-implemented crypto programs). A CD-ROM that contains source codes (in various languages) and descriprions for ciphers, hashes, cryptanalysis methods, and even some cultural-political screeds would be more useful than one that contains 'the latest version of PGP'. And actually version-decay isn't that bad an issue. Put a warning file in the CD-ROM about that, with pointers to crypto ftp- and web sites. The publisher being comitted to putting out a new CD-ROM every year is probably often enough in most cases. A nice advantage of CD-ROMs is that many BBSs that aren't plugged into the net use them. I rememebr showing threads about a similar C'punks CD-ROM discussion a couple of years ago to some local BBS-sysops asking about new CD-ROMs (bored of the usual Pier and NightOwl fair)... they were really into the idea, if nothing else than it was "hip" with a nice plitical edge but also had a utility and education value that surpassed the usual gobbleware CDs. An reference sources for hashes or ciphers and papers about them, plus some papers about general crypto principles necessary for all newsbies and even gurus to (re)read would be really useful.