-[[!template id="nav"]]
+[[meta title="Why should you be interested in the Monkeysphere?"]]
-[[meta title="Why should you be interested in the MonkeySphere?"]]
+# Why should you be interested in the Monkeysphere? #
-# Why should you be interested in the MonkeySphere? #
+[[!toc levels=2]]
## As an `ssh` user ##
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
new one without having to comb through every single account you have
ever connected to?
-## As an system administrator ##
+[Get started with the monkeysphere as a user!](/getting-started-user)
+
+## 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
user's key to authenticate across an entire infrastructure you manage,
without touching each host by hand?
+[Get started with the monkeysphere as an administrator!](/getting-started-admin)
+
## What's the connection? ##
All of these issues are related to a lack of a [Public Key
people meet in person for the first time).
The good news is that this is all possible, and available with free
-tools: welcome to the MonkeySphere!
+tools: welcome to the Monkeysphere!
## Examples ##
needing to give Bob a new passphrase to remember, and without needing
to even know Bob's current SSH key. She simply tells `foo` that `Bob
<bob@example.net>` should have access to the `bob` account. The
-MonkeySphere on `foo` then verifies Bob's identity through the OpenPGP
+Monkeysphere on `foo` then verifies Bob's identity through the OpenPGP
Web of Trust and automatically add's Bob's SSH key to the
authorized_keys file for the `bob` account.
Bob's first connection to his new `bob` account on `foo.example.org`
-is seamless, because the MonkeySphere on Bob's computer automatically
+is seamless, because the Monkeysphere on Bob's computer automatically
verifies the host key for `foo.example.org` for Bob. Using the
-MonkeySphere, Bob never has to "accept" an unintelligible host key or
+Monkeysphere, Bob never has to "accept" an unintelligible host key or
type a password.
When Bob decides to change the key he uses for SSH authentication, he
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.
actual humans using these tools than some message like "Certified by
GloboTrust".
+You may also be interested in [some thoughts about alternate PKIs for
+SSH](/similar).
+
+## 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
projects / monkeysphere.git / blobdiff