On Tue, Mar 31, 2015 at 11:03 AM, Yaron Sheffer <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Scott, > > On 03/31/2015 01:22 AM, Scott Rea wrote: >> >> G'day Yaron, >> >> I will make 2 brief observations: >> >> a) Max and I actually proposed some usability focused work around TLS >> certs to the PKIX WG about 6 or 7 years ago, when PKIX was still going >> strong, and we were told that usability is not the purvey of IETF, its >> purely bits on the wire. So when did IETF morph from bits on the wire to >> now include usability? >> > The IETF works on bits on the wire that are necessary to achieve business > goals. And those goals certainly include usability. > >> b) Getting a server certificate for a cloud server within seconds, and >> with no manual intervention is possible today with a little scripting on >> the server and an appropriate API from one of the existing CAs. If your >> current provider cannot do that for you, then I suggest you shop around >> a little. > > > I tried that and failed, I guess I should try some more. But anyway, as a > customer I would like a standard interface so that this "little scripting" > doesn't lock me into a single vendor.
"with a little scripting". You can protect the golden gate bridge as well, all it takes is "a little paint". The problem with "a little scripting" is that if you are serious about code quality and maintenance it is never so simple. Who is going to be responsible for this code? Who is going to maintain it? Where is it going to sit in source control? Before you can write one line of code, you have to read the documentation and before you can do that you have to find out where it is. Sure, it is not rocket science. But it is several hours worth of effort and that means $3,000+ in a commercial environment and $1.4 million in the US Govt. And before you start complaining that if people can't write code they are incompetent etc, first recognize that working out whether someone is competent or not is itself a very difficult proposition for a manager and second go spend some time in a usability lab watching some people trying to use computers to solve 'simple' problems. It is quite an eye opener. You will see folk fat fingering commands and looking up documentation for stuff they think they do every day and know off by heart. But it isn't actually that simple because the way the brain works, it tends to equate ability to plan with ability to execute and it is vastly over-optimistic in estimating time taken to do things. _______________________________________________ Acme mailing list [email protected] https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/acme
