At 2:06 PM -0400 7/24/00, Steven Furlong wrote:
>Tim May wrote:
>> Well, the best way to increase signal is to--drum roll--increase signal.
>...
>> I don't want to belittle you, but it is passing strange when folks
>> who aren't contributing signal then complain that there is not enough
>> signal!
>
>I sympathise a bit with people who don't really want to post, but who
>are frustrated by the sometimes low S/N. I, for instance, have an
>interest in the technical and social aspects of crypto, but often feel
>I don't have much to contribute to the discussion. Little of my
>on-the-job work has involved implementing crypto in software products,
_Zero_ of my work involves implementing crypto in software products.
News flash: In the early years of the list there was virtually no
crypto being implementented into products. There was the activity at
RSA, with a small staff, and there was the small team that did PGP
2.0.
"Implementing crypto in software products" has little to do with
being able to contribute to discussions and to thinking about
interesting future products.
On the latter point, many of those who joined in the discussions in
the early and middle years of the list later went on to either found
companies to implement some of the ideas or joined companies working
in the area.
--Tim May
--
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
"Cyphernomicon" | black markets, collapse of governments.
