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Comment by maxtaco | Hacker News Reader

We at keybase developed a PGP replacement called Saltpack. It uses only modern crypto, with all the features you would expect like authenticated encryption and branch-free secret key operations (via the NaCl library). We have a better armoring format that won’t get mangled in modern markdown contexts. It is also integrated with our CLI and in the upcoming release we support encrypting for teams.

https://saltpack.org

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The problem with keybase is that it has grown from a simple command-line tool (which I could perhaps trust) to a monster with a GUI, menu-bar icon, resident daemon, which does lots of things, and until recently failed to even properly start for me. The running process daemon is required even to use the CLI.

I'm glad you are making a PGP replacement, but I'm worried that this will head in the same direction. I want simpler, auditable and understandable systems for crypto, not complex beasts with hidden interactions.

I fully share that opinion. I loved Keybase for its simplicity: It was a way to verify keys based on social media accounts and thus a more practical alternative to the web of trust. The client was optional, I could track someone by using bash and curl, and I kind of managed to understand how it works.

Nowadays unfortunately it's a complex system of key management, account authentication, chat, file encryption, and more. I have no way to fully understand that system.

Simplicity is an under-appreciated feature.

Oh yes! Keybase went full-Skype.

I loved the concept of verifiable identity and that I could use it even with "plain" gpg commands without having to trust their client.

Unsurprisingly, there was no way to monetize this, so they've had to pivot to being SlackDropboxIDontKnowWhat.app

Too bad as verifiable identities can already be implemented in pure OpenPGP, see Linked Identities (https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-vb-openpgp-linked-ids-01) as implemented in e.g. OpenKeychain.

The web site design is so hipsterish :)

I kept looking for "install" or "download".

It's in "repos".

I really need to start using keybase and keybase features. Thus far I haven't, probably due to lack of need. However, I heavily appreciate the work you all do. Of the biggest problems facing humanity in my eyes, several are related to information. Focusing on making information secure is a big boon to those problems.

With that said, after a quick navigation around the site, I don't see any way to compensate keybase for your work. This always makes me nervous, as I hate SV Startup culture and immediately have concerns about who is funding keybase, and how they will put dinner on the table tomorrow; or what compromises keybase might make if dinner is problematic.

I would love a way to contribute to a revenue stream. I love products that are paid for. So please, develop a normal revenue stream. Less startup, more business, maybe with a flavor of non-profit if you really want to tickle my fancy.

Thank you all for the work, and please help us help you :)

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