7.5.1. PGP 2.0 arrived at an important time - in September 1992, the very same week the Cypherpunks had their first meeting, in Oakland, CA. (Arthur Abraham printed up professional-looking diskette labels for the PGO 2.0 diskettes distributed. A general feeling that we were forming at the "right time.") - just 6 months before the Clipper announcement caused a firestorm of interest in public key cryptography 7.5.2. PGP has been the catalyst for major shifts in opinion - has educated tens of thousands of users in the nature of strong crypto - has led to other tools, including encrypted remailers, experiments in digital money, etc. 7.5.3. "If this stuff is so important, how come not everyone is digitally signing their messages?" - (Me, for example. I never sign my messages, and this FAQ is not signed. Maybe I will, later.) - convenience, ease of use, "all crypto is economics" - insecurity of host Unix machines (illusory) - better integration with mailers needed 7.5.4. Ripem appears to be dead; traffic in alt.security.ripem is almost zero. PGP has obviously won the hearts and minds of the user community; and now that it's "legal"...
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