On Mon, 1 Jan 2001, Van Donald wrote:
A chat program needs a server, or interacting network of servers to advertise presence.
No, they don't. They do need a persistent network presence however. Distinctly different things.
This server could also act as a public key server,
Which is pointless. The only(!) group that is excluded from IRC at this point is anyone who doesn't have the brains to request a session key through the server.
invisibly to user, guaranteeing stability of identity -- that this presence was the same entity as had been logged on under the same name in previous sessions.
Using pk's doesn't do this since I can loan my key as easy as I might own a password. Besides how do you know somebody isn't diddling with the central server? Any centralized system is bound to be defeated through a 'least effort' attack on the servers. As a result of the server going down the entire system has now been breached and the trust in the operators is nil. ____________________________________________________________________ Before a larger group can see the virtue of an idea, a smaller group must first understand it. "Stranger Suns" George Zebrowski The Armadillo Group ,::////;::-. James Choate Austin, Tx /:'///// ``::>/|/ ravage@ssz.com www.ssz.com .', |||| `/( e\ 512-451-7087 -====~~mm-'`-```-mm --'- --------------------------------------------------------------------