unity-design team mailing list archive

[Paul Tagliamonte <paultag@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 4:53 AM, Matthew Paul Thomas <mpt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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> Martin Owens wrote on 21/06/10 19:55:
>>...
>> Myself and a few others have been working on a concept to improve the
>> functionality and ease of use of the gpg key system we use. This
>> project code named starfish[1] would be hopefully something average
>> users can discover and take advantage of as well as making it easier
>> for us geeks to deal with.
>
> - From what I've seen, the Seahorse developers have been quite eager to
> improve its design and understandability. I suggest trying to work with
> them before resorting to a replacement.

I don't see this as a replacement -- Seahorse is the down-and-dirty
direct replacement for using the GnuPG command line.

I see starfish as being an easy-to-use and simplified interface to the
complexity that GnuPG provides. It would not be absurd to see users
move from Starfish to Seahorse.

>
>> I would really like your critique of these rough designs for the
>> system:
>>
>> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Starfish/Design
>>
>> I have attempted to show the workflow from not having an identity
>> (published gpg key) to discovering the possibility, setting it up and
>> then creating a network of trust.
>>...
>
> That's an interesting start, but it doesn't seem to cover anything
> practical yet. There's nothing there, for example, about verifying that
> an e-mail message came from the person it looks like, or encrypting a
> chat session, or opening an encrypted file that someone has sent you.

True. Something to consider, for sure.

>
> Everything you have shown is bureaucracy -- it's the stuff you don't
> really want to do, but need to do, to get those other things working.
> But if you don't design the process end-to-end, you won't know how much
> of that stuff is really necessary, or mundane details like what kinds of
> window it should use.
>
> So, start with some use cases and some misuse cases, and work out the
> most delightful way of satisfying them or foiling them respectively. For
> example:
>
> *   Abigail finds out that she could encrypt her e-mail messages to
>    Bertrand if she wanted to, and understands what this means, without
>    any effort on Bertrand's part.
>
> *   Praneeth is borrowing a friend's computer, and is chatting to Vikil
>    from an Ubuntu guest session. Vikil wants to know that it's really
>    Praneeth and not someone else.
>
> *   Timon wants to send a file to Androu, Neola, and Marcus so that only
>    they can read it. (How does the encryption process work? How does
>    Timon come to understand that any of the recipients might still pass
>    the file on unencrypted?)
>
> *   Claudia is 15, doesn't take computers that seriously, and thinks
>    it's funny to "add as a friend" anyone who asks. Derek tries to join
>    her web of trust. (How does the system discourage her effectively?
>    What is Ubuntu using the web of trust for in the first place?)
>

Great feedback. Thank you.

> - --
> Matthew Paul Thomas
> http://mpt.net.nz/
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