Package: mixmaster
Version: 3.0.0-8.1
Followup-For: Bug #824827
Dear Maintainer,
> The bug reporter is incorrect about the status of mixmaster, it's
> not designed to use 4k keys so it is hardly surprising that it fails
> when you try to use them.
You continue to misunderstand the bug report. This is not a feature
request for 4k key support.
The bug is that mixmaster selects incompatible (4k key) remailers for
the chain, it means 4k keys are /partially/ supported (a very bad
idea). In order to function, the support must be entirely one way or
the other.
These two bugs still remain:
bug 1: mixmaster autonomously chooses to use a (so-called) unsupported
chain. If 4k keys are not supported, the tool shouldn't
attempt to chain through unusable nodes in the first place.
bug 2: the error message "encryption failed" is absurdly vague. In
the absence of a fix for bug 1, the tool should say something
meaningful like:
"cannot route through dizum because its keys are too large"
> The project is effectively dead upstream and has been for some time.
> This is mostly because it is no longer secure. It is for this reason
> that I recommend it's removal.
A stale upstream project is not necessarily a reason to remove a
downstream project (an upstream project may be sufficiently stable).
However, persistence of the above-mentioned defects are good cause for
removal.
