From: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>
Date: Tue, 14 May 1996 19:18:11 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: PRZ /PGP
In-Reply-To: <adbbd23b000210049f3d@[205.199.118.202]>
Message-ID: <199605140557.WAA02396@netcom22.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


TCM
>(I haven't read Zimmermann's comments in full, to get the full context, but
>I doubt we'll agree on such things. His achievement with PGP was
>considerable, but I know from first-hand experience that his political
>views are very non-libertarian and are, in fact, counter to liberty.)

hmmmmm, surely you don't think you can get away without anyone
requesting an elaboration on this....

maybe post the comments through a remailer if necesary  <heh>

actually, I agree with this, but probably for other reasons.

it is well known (i.e. reported in articles) that Zimmermann was
considering moving out of the country to australia or canada during
the 80's because of the Reagan cold war situation. 

well, I don't blame him, but can he really cloak himself in the
mantle of a national patriot after this kind of thinking?

it may also be that Zimmermann has a set of beliefs that he
champions in front of the public, but that his private ideology
is more radical.  I tend to get this impression. he is very,
very careful about his public image and his reputation.

I suspect that Zimmermann's star is on the way to fading out,
at the moment, for some various reasons.  I only write this
because of a letter I read ealier from Raph Levien that
tended to confirm some of my suspicions.

1. he has a "I want it all" or "I want to win while everyone
else loses" ideology. this is what it took to write PGP when
no one else had ever even heard of public key crypto. but
suddenly when crypto becomes mainstream, the pioneers are
often pushed to the sidelines unless they adapt. 

2. he attained much of his accomplishments via the work of
others. there is no problem with this, but the issue of 
due compensation arises when he begins to sell this labor.
frankly I don't think PRZ is into "sharing". this is the
first point in a different context.

3. PRZ is actually somewhat anti-business in some ways.
he came from the outside, challenging the "establishment"
during nuclear war protests. he can put on a business suit
but I suspect there is a lot of different thinking going
on beneath the exterior.

4. PRZ has a bad track record as far as meeting deadlines.
it is not how his brain works. but this is how business
works. with public domain software, no one rants at you
if you don't come out with something when you say you will,
or even if you don't even say when you are going to be
ready. but when money is involved, this is the very
first thing you have to be accountable for, no excuses.

5. etc.

now, I am trying to be as generous as possible here. I really
admire PRZ and think he has an incredibly enviable 
feather in his cap with PGP, a very significant accomplishment.
but PGP can only be seen as a stepping stone unless he
adopts an aggressive strategy to stick his work into 
the standards of tomorrow. PRZ has shown a great unwillingness
to do this.

unless PRZ's personality changes in some fundamental way that
I think is highly unlikely, I think he will sentence himself
to obscurity in the face of a zillion people working on the
same ideas. obscurity is not a bad thing, really. PRZ has
reached the point where he has enough security to last him
the rest of his lifetime.