X-Git-Url: https://codewiz.org/gitweb?a=blobdiff_plain;f=website%2Fwhy.mdwn;h=93ea56018af6dcd661ca413a5bd7f8a109affc57;hb=b945c94c47be82bfc4bbbbe0a8ba74d5bf5b02fb;hp=5dc0e05a08e33e6b7cfb7f991c6a82d732c2e6eb;hpb=c4b1ec9c747de38b7492577a3f52fbf14ad054af;p=monkeysphere.git

diff --git a/website/why.mdwn b/website/why.mdwn
index 5dc0e05..93ea560 100644
--- a/website/why.mdwn
+++ b/website/why.mdwn
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-[[!template id="nav"]]
-
 [[meta title="Why should you be interested in the MonkeySphere?"]]
 
 [[toc ]]
@@ -16,8 +14,8 @@ seeing messages like this?
 Do you actually tediously check the fingerprint against a
 cryptographically-signed message from the admin, or do you just cross
 your fingers and type "yes"?  Do you wish there was a better way to
-verify that the host your connecting to actually is the host you mean
-to connect to?  Shouldn't our tools be able to figure this out
+verify that the host you are connecting to actually is the host you
+mean to connect to?  Shouldn't our tools be able to figure this out
 automatically?
 
 Do you use `ssh`'s public key authentication for convenience and/or
@@ -33,7 +31,7 @@ ever connected to?
 
 [Get started with the monkeysphere as a user!](/getting-started-user)
 
-## As an system administrator ##
+## As a system administrator ##
 
 As a system administrator, have you ever tried to re-key an SSH
 server?  How did you communicate the key change to your users?  How
@@ -120,10 +118,10 @@ allows a very flexible trust model, ranging all over the map, at the
 choice of the user:
 
 * individual per-host certifications by each client (much like the
-  stock OpenSSH behavior),
+  stock OpenSSH behavior), or
 
 * strict centralized Certificate Authorities (much like proposed X.509
-  models), and
+  models), or
 
 * a more human-centric model that recognizes individual differences in
   ranges of trust and acceptance.
@@ -137,3 +135,43 @@ than the current infrastructure allows, and is more meaningful to
 actual humans using these tools than some message like "Certified by
 GloboTrust".
 
+## Philosophy ##
+
+Humans (and
+[monkeys](http://www.scottmccloud.com/comics/mi/mi-17/mi-17.html))
+have the innate capacity to keep track of the identities of only a
+finite number of people. After our social sphere exceeds several dozen
+or several hundred (depending on the individual), our ability to
+remember and distinguish people begins to break down. In other words,
+at a certain point, we can't know for sure that the person we ran into
+in the produce aisle really is the same person who we met at the party
+last week.
+
+For most of us, this limitation has not posed much of a problem in our
+daily, off-line lives.  With the Internet, however, we have an ability
+to interact with vastly larger numbers of people than we had
+before. In addition, on the Internet we lose many of our tricks for
+remembering and identifying people (physical characteristics, sound of
+the voice, etc.).
+
+Fortunately, with online communications we have easy access to tools
+that can help us navigate these problems.
+[OpenPGP](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Openpgp) (a cryptographic
+protocol commonly used for sending signed and encrypted email
+messages) is one such tool. In its simplest form, it allows us to
+sign our communication in such a way that the recipient can verify the
+sender.
+
+OpenPGP goes beyond this simple use to implement a feature known as
+the [web of trust](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_of_trust). The web
+of trust allows people who have never met in person to communicate
+with a reasonable degree of certainty that they are who they say they
+are. It works like this: Person A trusts Person B. Person B verifies
+Person C's identity.  Then, Person A can verify Person C's identity
+because of their trust of Person B.
+
+The Monkeyshpere's broader goals are to extend the use of OpenPGP from
+email communications to other activities, such as:
+
+ * conclusively identifying the remote server in a remote login session
+ * granting access to servers to people we've never directly met