Why I Wrote PGP (1999)
Report a link problem
The originally submitted URL now redirects to the address above. Updating the destination does not change the item’s HN history, Hall membership, or rank.
Submission timeline
2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderThere’s something… different about how people (techie people are most of my sample) would write before the 00’s. I’m not sure if it has to do with the medium, or the constraints of the time, but reading it always fills me with something I can best describe as peace/nostalgia. The belief that technology honestly can change the world for the better and that the most influential people driving it have good motives instead of profit motives. And they were real…
Perhaps you think your email is legitimate enough that encryption is unwarranted. If you really are a law-abiding citizen with nothing to hide, then why don't you always send your paper mail on postcards? Why not submit to drug testing on demand? Why require a warrant for police searches of your house? Are you trying to hide something? If you hide your mail inside envelopes, does that mean you must be a subversive or a drug dealer, or maybe a…
The government initially claimed that using Clipper would be voluntary, that no one would be forced to use it instead of other types of cryptography. But the public reaction against the Clipper chip was strong, stronger than the government anticipated. The computer industry monolithically proclaimed its opposition to using Clipper. FBI director Louis Freeh responded to a question in a press conference in 1994 by saying that if Clipper failed to gain public support, and FBI wiretaps were shut out…
Discussed yesterday: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28103734
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 3
- Total points
- 929
- Total comments
- 344
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-10-12 | Philip Zimmermann: Why I Wrote PGP (1999) | turingbook | 5 | 0 |
| 2013-11-30 | Why I Wrote PGP (1999)First breakout | numlocked | 257 | 109 |
| 2013-12-02 | Why I Wrote PGP | bane | 1 | 1 |
| 2015-11-17 | Why I Wrote PGP (1999) | pdkl95 | 149 | 47 |
| 2017-03-09 | Why I Wrote PGP | remx | 4 | 0 |
| 2017-07-09 | Why I Wrote PGP (1991) | relyio | 3 | 0 |
| 2018-09-13 | Why I Wrote PGP | exolymph | 2 | 0 |
| 2021-08-08 | Why I Wrote PGP (1999)Hall induction · Best thread | pdkl95 | 422 | 181 |
| 2021-08-09 | Why I Wrote PGP (1999)Latest 20+ point return | catch-92 | 76 | 5 |
| 2023-07-19 | Why I Wrote PGP (1999) | theden | 2 | 0 |
| 2023-08-26 | Why I Wrote PGP by Phil Zimmerman 1991 (updated 1999) | celtoid | 2 | 0 |
| 2024-05-16 | Why I Wrote PGP (1999) | axiomdata316 | 2 | 0 |
| 2025-01-17 | Why I Wrote PGP (1991) | lawrenceyan | 2 | 0 |
| 2026-04-12 | I Wrote PGP (1999) | downbad_ | 2 | 1 |