[[!comment format=mdwn
 username="joey"
 subject="""comment 5"""
 date="2021-10-19T16:33:01Z"
 content="""
> I'm not sure I follow, couldn't you just generate an age keypair and simply store that in the repo?
> 
> Does the current gpg-based implementation not do it just like that?

No, it uses gpg --symmetric which is much simpler and also likely more
secure.

As far as gpg's UI complexity, it's a problem to some extent (although every
one of those options presumably has a user), but notice that a git-annex user
who uses encryption=shared never has to touch gpg's interface at all.
This is by design. It's only with encryption=hybrid and pubkey that the user
is exposed to  the complexities of public key crypto, and I expect that mostly
users who already are familiar with that and need the inherent complexity of it
will use those.

> age seems like the most obvious alternative for use-cases like
> git-annex. Only time can tell whether it actually becomes the new file encryption
> standard but it seems like the most likely candidate right now.

I don't follow this reasoning; the openpgp standard is a well-established
standard with many implementations, and so it seems likely that an implementation
of that standard will be what replaces gpg, if anything.

(It also is possible that gpg eventually ends up being reimplemented using
something like Sequoia-PGP under the hood to gain the protections from C-level
security holes, which are certainly a real concern.)
"""]]
