From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@piermont.com>
Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 02:21:23 +0800
To: markson@osmosys.incog.com (Tom Markson)
Subject: Re: SKIP source release is out
In-Reply-To: <9512010919.AA29567@monster.incog.com>
Message-ID: <199512011613.LAA08608@jekyll.piermont.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Tom Markson writes:
> > Doug Hughes writes:
> [ Perry Metzger writes: ]
> > > >SKIP is a non-standard being pushed by Sun.
> > >
> > > Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't sun trying to make it a standard
> > > (in competetion with Photuris) ?
> 
> Doug, you are correct.  SKIP is an IPSEC internet draft.  Photuris is
> an IPSEC internet draft.  Perry is incorrect in saying that SKIP is 
> a non-standard.   Both of the chairs of the IPSEC group have said SKIP 
> is part of the IPSEC working group.

Yes, and I believe that it has also been made pretty clear that you
have a snowball's chance in hell of getting SKIP to be a first class
standard.

Anything can be part of the IPSEC working group if it insists, you
know. Anyone can publish an RFC, too. 

> Phil Karn (author of Photuris) has also said this.

Other people are substantially more diplomatic than me.

> Both SKIP and Photuris are on the standards track.

No, I think that SKIP is pretty clearly headed, at best, to
elective. It isn't ever going to be a standard, period.

> > The IETF has many sorts of standards. It explicitly has a way to
> > standardize things that the IETF doesn't think are a good idea but
> > which should have the ability to interoperate if you do them.
> 
> That's true, but SKIP is not in that category.

Think what you like.

> > My opinion is that it is fairly clear that Photuris is the key
> > management system people will be using, although it is going to have
> > to evolve to work with a real network wide certificate database
> > infrastructure. SKIP isn't going to be the standard.
> 
> Again, in *your* opinion.  No determination has been made that I know of.

Actually, Ran pretty much explicitly said in Danvers that we were
headed towards Photuris and Photuris-like protocols. I know he's a bit
more diplomatic about how he says such things, but again, I think that
the situation is fairly clear, no matter what you guys choose to tell
the trade press.

Perry