Re: confusing terminology

Ben Laurie <ben@algroup.co.uk> Tue, 08 February 2005 06:42 UTC

Message-ID: <42085A7D.1000704@algroup.co.uk>
Date: Tue, 08 Feb 2005 06:21:49 +0000
From: Ben Laurie <ben@algroup.co.uk>
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To: Rick van Rein <rick@openfortress.nl>
Cc: ietf-openpgp@imc.org
Subject: Re: confusing terminology
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Rick van Rein wrote:
>>>Message, data file, object, session
> 
> These terms are used in a rotary scheme, but the reader must assume they
> mean the same thing, and not something slightly different.  The original
> thought of OpenPGP seems to have been message formats as sent by email,
> but then PGP disk encryption came and the terms had to be altered.
> 
> Can be agree on one term for "the stuff that is PGP-ified" perhaps?
> I think "OpenPGP data" will be fine, in contrast to "readable data".

"ciphertext" and "plaintext" sound more usual to me.

> As for the "added side-effect" (which states the same thing doubly twice) I
> see a cryptographic advantage in compression that should go here :- by
> compressing a message, the entropy of the data that is encrypted is made
> as high as possible.

Entropy is not altered by (lossless) compression.

Cheers,

Ben.