From: Hal <hfinney@shell.portal.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Jun 1996 09:17:53 +0800
To: modemac@netcom.com
Subject: Re:  Proposal: PGPmail Plugin for Netscape/Mosaic
Message-ID: <199606152019.NAA02248@jobe.shell.portal.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


There was a little discussion about this on the coderpunks list, but I
didn't get the impression that anyone was ready to run out and do it.
I'm not sure whether plugins could also be used for receiving mail in
addition to sending, but if so it does seem like a good way to add the
functionality.

Also, as I understand it, Netscape plugins have to be downloaded and
installed ahead of time by the user, so it is not quite true that this
gives one-click PGP access to everyone with a browser; it will only be
for Netscape users who have downloaded and installed the right plugin.
Also, plugins are architecture specific so he would have to be running
the kind of computer for which a plugin is available.

I have a Java applet which sends PGP mail similarly to the model you
describe.  This will work in principle for any browser which supports
Java, and does not require anything to be downloaded or installed ahead
of time (other than the Java-compliant browser).  It is still pretty
rough and is more of a proof of concept than a production program but I
think it is another potential approach.  Look at <URL:
http://www.portal.com/~hfinney/java/java.html > and follow the links to
the PGP compatible mail applet.

Hal