mirror of
https://codeberg.org/openpgp/notes.git
synced 2024-11-22 23:52:05 +01:00
move history and present to ch3
This commit is contained in:
Heiko Schaefer
parent
558a3720d8
commit
5d5079ccb8
2 changed files with 71 additions and 71 deletions
|
|
@ -18,74 +18,3 @@ software.
|
|||
|
||||
OpenPGP is an open standard, there are many widely used
|
||||
(and [interoperable](https://tests.sequoia-pgp.org/)) implementations.
|
||||
|
||||
## A very brief history
|
||||
|
||||
The OpenPGP standard has evolved over time.
|
||||
|
||||
(Also see https://www.openpgp.org/about/history/)
|
||||
|
||||
### "Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)"
|
||||
|
||||
The earliest roots of OpenPGP trace back to *"Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)"*,
|
||||
a software program, written by Phil Zimmermann and first released in 1991.
|
||||
|
||||
The original PGP software has played a role in the political struggles sometimes
|
||||
referred to as the ["Crypto Wars"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_Wars)
|
||||
(also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_(book) for some of that history,
|
||||
including about the history of PGP).
|
||||
|
||||
The "PGP" software was never under a Free Software license,
|
||||
even though its source code has at one point been widely published.
|
||||
|
||||
The ownership and branding of the product has
|
||||
[changed over the years](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#PGP_Corporation_and_Symantec),
|
||||
The software enjoys a continued existence, albeit with
|
||||
[changing name and scope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#PGP_Corporation_encryption_applications).
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
### Standardizing OpenPGP
|
||||
|
||||
While the PGP software was developed as a commercial product, the owner at the time,
|
||||
"PGP Inc." started a standardization effort with the IETF in July 1997.
|
||||
The resulting open standard was named
|
||||
[OpenPGP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#OpenPGP).
|
||||
|
||||
The result of this early standardization work is
|
||||
[RFC 2440 "OpenPGP Message Format"](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2440),
|
||||
published November 1998.
|
||||
|
||||
The name "OpenPGP" can be used freely by implementations (unlike the name
|
||||
"PGP", which is a [registered trademark](https://uspto.report/TM/74685229)).
|
||||
|
||||
### GnuPG, a free software implementation
|
||||
|
||||
[First released 1997-12-20](https://gnupg.org/download/release_notes.html#sec-2-70),
|
||||
GnuPG is an implementation of the OpenPGP standard.
|
||||
|
||||
GnuPG has been the major Free Software implementation of OpenPGP for a period
|
||||
of time. It has played an important and successful role in the release of NSA
|
||||
documents by [Edward Snowden](https://theintercept.com/2014/10/28/smuggling-snowden-secrets/).
|
||||
|
||||
## The present
|
||||
|
||||
### Multiple major implementations
|
||||
|
||||
Today, multiple implementations of OpenPGP play an important role:
|
||||
|
||||
- Protonmail, who provide email encryption services for a large number of users,
|
||||
use (and maintain) [OpenPGP.js](https://openpgpjs.org/).
|
||||
- The Thunderbird email software is using the [RNP](https://www.rnpgp.org/)
|
||||
implementation for their built-in OpenPGP support since version 78 (released in mid-2020).
|
||||
- The RPM Package Manager software includes an OpenPGP backend based on
|
||||
[Sequoia PGP](https://sequoia-pgp.org/), a modern OpenPGP implementation in Rust.
|
||||
Fedora [uses Sequoia PGP in rpm](https://sequoia-pgp.org/blog/2023/04/27/rpm-sequoia/)
|
||||
since version 38.
|
||||
|
||||
### OpenPGP version 6
|
||||
|
||||
This document mainly describes OpenPGP version 6, which brings many updates of the core cryptographic mechanisms,
|
||||
compared to the previous version 4.
|
||||
|
||||
As of this writing (in 2023), version 4 of OpenPGP is still most commonly used.
|
||||
OpenPGP version 4 is described in [RFC 4880](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4880).
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -4,3 +4,74 @@
|
|||
- ?
|
||||
- Introduce Packet/Subpacket concepts (?)
|
||||
```
|
||||
|
||||
## A very brief history
|
||||
|
||||
The OpenPGP standard has evolved over time.
|
||||
|
||||
(Also see https://www.openpgp.org/about/history/)
|
||||
|
||||
### "Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)"
|
||||
|
||||
The earliest roots of OpenPGP trace back to *"Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)"*,
|
||||
a software program, written by Phil Zimmermann and first released in 1991.
|
||||
|
||||
The original PGP software has played a role in the political struggles sometimes
|
||||
referred to as the ["Crypto Wars"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_Wars)
|
||||
(also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crypto_(book) for some of that history,
|
||||
including about the history of PGP).
|
||||
|
||||
The "PGP" software was never under a Free Software license,
|
||||
even though its source code has at one point been widely published.
|
||||
|
||||
The ownership and branding of the product has
|
||||
[changed over the years](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#PGP_Corporation_and_Symantec),
|
||||
The software enjoys a continued existence, albeit with
|
||||
[changing name and scope](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#PGP_Corporation_encryption_applications).
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
### Standardizing OpenPGP
|
||||
|
||||
While the PGP software was developed as a commercial product, the owner at the time,
|
||||
"PGP Inc." started a standardization effort with the IETF in July 1997.
|
||||
The resulting open standard was named
|
||||
[OpenPGP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Good_Privacy#OpenPGP).
|
||||
|
||||
The result of this early standardization work is
|
||||
[RFC 2440 "OpenPGP Message Format"](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2440),
|
||||
published November 1998.
|
||||
|
||||
The name "OpenPGP" can be used freely by implementations (unlike the name
|
||||
"PGP", which is a [registered trademark](https://uspto.report/TM/74685229)).
|
||||
|
||||
### GnuPG, a free software implementation
|
||||
|
||||
[First released 1997-12-20](https://gnupg.org/download/release_notes.html#sec-2-70),
|
||||
GnuPG is an implementation of the OpenPGP standard.
|
||||
|
||||
GnuPG has been the major Free Software implementation of OpenPGP for a period
|
||||
of time. It has played an important and successful role in the release of NSA
|
||||
documents by [Edward Snowden](https://theintercept.com/2014/10/28/smuggling-snowden-secrets/).
|
||||
|
||||
## The present
|
||||
|
||||
### Multiple major implementations
|
||||
|
||||
Today, multiple implementations of OpenPGP play an important role:
|
||||
|
||||
- Protonmail, who provide email encryption services for a large number of users,
|
||||
use (and maintain) [OpenPGP.js](https://openpgpjs.org/).
|
||||
- The Thunderbird email software is using the [RNP](https://www.rnpgp.org/)
|
||||
implementation for their built-in OpenPGP support since version 78 (released in mid-2020).
|
||||
- The RPM Package Manager software includes an OpenPGP backend based on
|
||||
[Sequoia PGP](https://sequoia-pgp.org/), a modern OpenPGP implementation in Rust.
|
||||
Fedora [uses Sequoia PGP in rpm](https://sequoia-pgp.org/blog/2023/04/27/rpm-sequoia/)
|
||||
since version 38.
|
||||
|
||||
### OpenPGP version 6
|
||||
|
||||
This document mainly describes OpenPGP version 6, which brings many updates of the core cryptographic mechanisms,
|
||||
compared to the previous version 4.
|
||||
|
||||
As of this writing (in 2023), version 4 of OpenPGP is still most commonly used.
|
||||
OpenPGP version 4 is described in [RFC 4880](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4880).
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
Loading…
Reference in a new issue