почему никто не пользуется криптографическим софтом

(честно сперто из cryptography mailing list)

все то же самое применимо к целой куче другого софта, кстати. но с криптой обычно люди быстро выдыхаются, и до UI руки не доходят вообще, поэтому это наиболее показательно.

> Can anyone enlighten me why client TLS certificates
> are used so rarely? 
> It used to be a hassle in the past

They're still a huge pain to work with, and probably always will be.
If you don't believe me, go to your mother, sit her in front of 
a computer, sit behind her with your arms crossed so you can't
point to anything or type stuff out for her, and walk her through
the process of acquiring and using one without leaving your chair
or performing any part of the operation for her.

Now imagine getting her to do the same using only a sheet 
of instructions you've written.

Whenever anyone asks "why aren't certificates/smart cards/whatever 
used more?" they should be required to go through this exercise, 
and then they will be enlightened.

NB: Remember to switch to a fresh mother every time you re-try this 
experiment with some new technology.

Peter.