Let's Talk About Solutions

[Eric Hughes]

>But I note that for
>"mere users" (as distinct from sophisticated users and programmers),
>current filtering tools are difficult to use. What can make this better?

I'll second Mike's statement by repeating a maxim I periodically need
to repeat here:

	Cypherpunks are not the Hacker Privacy League.

It is certainly much easier to create privacy systems that are
difficult to install and require much background knowledge about the
computer system in question than it is to create systems that are
simple to install and reliable to use.

If we create systems that only we ourselves can use we have
accomplished nothing particularly significant.  Only widespread
deployment counts in the long run, and that won't happen without easy
installation.

As much as I like what Mike Diehl has been working on, I don't
consider it complete.  The installation is far too tricky.  I'm
certainly glad he wrote it, and I'm glad he released it so that it can
be evaluated on technical grounds, but it's early to say that it's
ready for an average user.

Eric