Personally, I think the whole recent debate here about Java, Netscape, TCL, Safe-TCL, Telescript, Linux, etc., has been very useful and stimulating. The detailed exposition of ideas by Ray Cromwell, Doug Barnes, Hal Finney, and several others is exactly what this list is all about. At 7:24 PM 7/21/95, Douglas Barnes wrote:

Note that I'm championing the use of Java as a portable language, with a portable windowing toolkit, that will (real soon now) have commercial tool support from a variety of vendors, as well as free tools available on the net (the best of both worlds.)

The whole issue of how to do cryptography with applets is kind of complicated, and is something Amanda and I have been working on very dilligently. They hard part is determining what the interface is between trusted code (that you have installed on your machine, or ultimately, that you've specifically designated as being trusted based on secure hash) and untrusted code that comes from random web sites on the net.

Ray's list of the many applet-based applications (so to speak). this stuff Doug is working on, and Hal's ideas, all could lead to a next-generation of Web-oriented user tools. I have no idea, of course, which of the various languages and tools will succeed. But it's good to see so much interest the past year or two in new languages...it was looking for a while like C++ would be the only game in town. --Tim May .......................................................................... Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@sensemedia.net | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero 408-728-0152 | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Corralitos, CA | black markets, collapse of governments. Higher Power: 2^756839 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available. "National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."