Re: [openpgp] Can the OpenPGP vs. S/MIME situation be fixed?

[Vincent Breitmoser <[e-mail]>]

*queue n+1 competing standards xkcd

 -  V

On 3 July 2016 02:24:04 CEST, Phillip Hallam-Baker <[e-mail]> wrote:
>On Sat, Jul 2, 2016 at 11:08 AM, Peter Gutmann
><[e-mail]>
>wrote:
>
>> Phillip Hallam-Baker <[e-mail]> writes:
>>
>> >I have wanted this for a long time. there are actually three
>separate
>> >problems to be solved.
>> >
>> >1) How to make S/MIME work with OpenPGP credentials
>> >
>> >2) How to make OpenPGP work with S/MIME credentials
>> >
>> >3) How to merge the two specifications into one.
>>
>> The first two are pretty easy, I've been doing that for years.  For
>S/MIME,
>> use the subjectKeyIdentifier form of the key ID.  For PGP, use an
>> issuerAndSerialNumber in a type-and-value subpacket.
>>
>> The third is impossible.  While at an abstract level PGP and S/MIME
>do the
>> same thing, the bit-bagging formats used to encode the abstraction
>are
>> completely incompatible.  You can't make them compatible without
>either
>> moving
>> S/MIME to the PGP format or PGP to the S/MIME format.  I can't see
>either
>> of
>> those happening...
>
>
>​
>That would clearly be impossible if it was what was being proposed.
>
>What I am suggesting is rather different, A new application for
>managing
>encrypted content, Word, Powerpoint, PDF, etc. that has crypto designed
>into the metal and also provides a messaging capability.
>
>I am suggesting Blu Ray, not trying to develop adapters to play VHS on
>Betamax.
>​