Eric Murray <ericm@lne.com> writes:
That's what's wrong with the net in general. 10+ years ago, when I started using it, it was hard to use e-mail and Usenet, so most of the people using had to be fairly intelligent. Today, no intelligence is required to use e-ma or even a cpunks anonymous remailer. I wish crypto software and mail filter software followed the suit and became as easy to use and transparent at the rest of our comm software.
Long for the good old days of bang-paths, 300 baud acoustic couplers and UUCP maps? see http://www.lne.com/lemay/writings/curmudgeonnet.html
Not at all -- I welcome all progress. My first modem was 110 bps. When we got a 300 bps one, it seemed lightning fast (and really cut down the LD bill for the data calls to Virginia). In fact, I'm very happy that easy-to-use Internet software enables people to use the net who couldn't do it before. I've been telling all my non-computer acquaintences to get onto the net for 5--8 years, but most of them did only in the last year or two. I wish there was real easy privacy-enhancement software that every "clueless newbie" could use. Maybe in PGP 3...
Where we're headed is mail filters with PGP imbedded (PGP 3 will make this much easier) that check incoming mail for a valid signature for certain PGP keyid/fingerprints and pass that mail along. Other mail that doesn't match gets tossed into a 'junk' folder or thrown away if you really don't want to talk to anyone that you don't already know.
Alas, this is what the future net will be like. Some out-of-band communication will be necessary before e-mail can be exchanged; or perhaps there will be a protocol to enable Alice to write Bob (who doesn't know Alice) and say: "You don't know me, but Carol vouches that it's worth your while for you to read my e-mail." Or Alice can ask Carol to e-mail Bob directly. Is something like this already available for FTP? :) --- Dr. Dimitri Vulis Brighton Beach Boardwalk BBS, Forest Hills, N.Y.: +1-718-261-2013, 14.4Kbps