I'm -1 on the usage of ed25519 in PEP 427. While the PEP proposes to use JSON Web signatures, this algorithm is not supported by the current JWS draft [1].
Instead, I suggest to use the ES256 algorithm from JWS, i.e. ECDSA with the NIST P-256 curve and SHA-256. This has the advantage of using standard algorithms [2]. I don't know what the rationale for suggesting ed25519 is; I suppose that existence of a pure-Python implementation played a role. However: - ECDSA also has a pure-Python implementation - ECDSA is well-supported by OpenSSL, i.e. a signature generator may also invoke the OpenSSL command line for efficient implementation. I believe M2Crypto also exposes enough of OpenSSL tp perform ECDSA signing and verification. I'm -0 on the use of JWS; I would prefer a signature format that is already an established internet standard (such a PGP or S/MIME). However, it does look that this may become a proper internet standard in the near future, so it's an ok choice. If it really must be ed25519, I request that this is registered with IANA once the PEP is accepted, the RFC is accepted, and the JWS algorithm registry is open. Regards, Martin [1] http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-jose-json-web-signature-06 [2] http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-jose-json-web-algorithms-06 _______________________________________________ Python-Dev mailing list Python-Dev@python.org http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-dev Unsubscribe: http://mail.python.org/mailman/options/python-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com
