Re: Entering passphrase twice when sending PGP signed message

[Simon Josefsson <jas@extundo.com>]

Jesper Harder <harder@myrealbox.com> writes:

> Simon Josefsson <jas@extundo.com> writes:
>
>> Jesper Harder <harder@myrealbox.com> writes:
>>
>>> Do it like forwarding, i.e. make an option for the default signing
>>> method.  Without a prefix `C-c C-m s' will use that, otherwise the
>>> numeric prefix selects which method to use.
>>
>> Ah, I like it.  I guess the default should be PGP/MIME, and the rest
>> perhaps C-u 0 C-c C-m ? for PGP and C-u 1 C-c C-m ? for S/MIME?
>>
>> OTOH, this is backward incompatible with a released version.
>
> Yeah, but you could argue that it's better to change it now before
> Oort Gnus has been bundled with a released version of Emacs.

Yes.  And it is not like hitting the old combination would exit emacs,
so people would notice and recover.

>> OTTH, how do this interact with the menu?  IIRC, you can't have the
>> menu item contain a key binding if it uses prefixes.
>
> I don't think we necessarily need menu items for the prefixes -- a
> sub-menu which let's you change the default with radio buttons would
> be better, IMHO.
>
> I think it's a great opportunity to simplify and clean up the
> crypto-related menu items.  We could arrange it like this (which would
> make the Attachments menu much less crowded):
>
>     +---------------------------------+
>     | Sign                (C-c RET s) |
>     | Encrypt             (C-c RET c) |
>     | Sign Part           (C-c RET S) |
>     | Encrypt Part        (C-c RET C) |
>     | Encrypt/Sign Off  (C-c RET C-n) |
>     | Change Security Method     +-----------------------+
>     +----------------------------|  [x] PGP/MIME         |
>                                  |  [ ] Traditional PGP  |
>                                  |  [ ] S/MIME           |
>                                  +-----------------------+

While it looks simpler and better, I'm not so sure.  A look at my own
signed/encrypted communication patterns gives roughly:

   50 % PGP
   40 % PGP/MIME
   10 % S/MIME

So I would have a hard time choosing PGP/MIME or PGP as the default,
and I would have to change it frequently.  And I do use the menubar,
since the keybindings are obscure, and entering the MML tag manually
is boring.  I suspect this is not a corner situation, traditional PGP
is still the norm if you want to talk with non-technical savvy people.

Although, I could use PGP/MIME as the default and manully change
'pgpmime' to 'pgp' in the MML tag.  Hm.

Speaking generally: The Gnus menubar are rather long and unfriendly.
One almost get the impression that they were designed by putting
everything that has a key binding into the menu.  Perhaps we could
have simplified and user friendly menus (like what you propose) in the
top-level menu by default, and an Advanced sub-menu that contains all
possible commands.  OTOH moving things around is also bad, and placing
lots of entries in a submenu can look weird.  O well, just an idea.