Re: Key fingerprints?
Mouse <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | gmane.ietf.secsh |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
>>> I don't have an informed opinion on whether or not things like >>> bubble-babble or the "random ascii-art" thing really helps users. >> In general, neither do I. But I have found that, in my own case, >> the base-85 encoding is _much_ more usable than the openssh-style >> hex. > I'd be careful about going too far with this. Compactness is nice, > but so is the ability to read a fingerprint over the telephone. Agreed. Different fingerprint presentations for different purposes. My base-85 presentation is fairly specifically optimized for visual comparison; moussh prints both the hex:hex:hex form and the base-85 form because they are optimized for different use cases and the software has no way to tell which is more appropriate at the moment. > I think that at least means being case-insensitive, and probably also > avoiding some other characters (I'm assuming we are starting with > printable ASCII). Maybe have a table of 16384 words and print it 14 bits at a time using them? That's language-specific, of course.... Optimizing for comparing by eye is very different from optimizing for voice (eg) over the telephone, and I would expect it to be difficult to satisfy both at once. /~\ The ASCII Mouse \ / Ribbon Campaign X Against HTML [email protected] / \ Email! 7D C8 61 52 5D E7 2D 39 4E F1 31 3E E8 B3 27 4B