[clug] request for comment: new keysigning protocol

[Nemo Maelstrom Thorx]

On Sun, Feb 07, 2010 at 11:13:23AM +1100, Paul Wayper did utter:
> 
> I think you'll find that in fact they're exactly the same thing.  The folded
> line is a tank tread.  In both methods you sign a the key of the person on the
> other line - the only way to guarantee that you sign every other person's key
> is to meet every other person, so it has to be an O(n) process.  In both
> methods, at each step along the line you see someone else's credentials, show
> them yours, record something about them on your key list and move on.  We did
> the folded line method at LCA2008 when the projector wasn't working, and it
> was exactly the process (as I recall) described in the Tank Tread write up (as
> I read the description).

See, LCA2008 was what I was remembering too, and my recollection of it
was that it was a single fold... the last person in the line didn't
start signing keys until the first person finished. This is the only
interpretation I would take from the At The Event step 4 at
http://keysigning.org/methods/sassaman-efficient
The ad hoc method description uses different words to describe the same
thing too. A single line which folds back. Not a loop

Which isn't to say that it's not done as a loop sometimes, I just think
it should be clearer about it

otoh, maybe my memory is wrong. Someone who has been to more keysignings
than I to comment?


> The "Tank Tread" name is a good descriptor, though, probably better than
> 'folded line' (which may give the impression that the line only folds in one
> place).

yes :)


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