[OLPC Security] Developer Key

[Matt Anderson]

On Wed, Feb 21, 2007 at 08:23:02PM -0500, Simson Garfinkel wrote:
> Several people have voiced confusion over the developer's key.

Reading through the spec I think I understand the developer key as
it was intended, but I wonder if it makes sense to have some sort
of additional self-signed developer key.  The purpose of this key
would not be to be able to make changes to your laptop, but as a
way of authenticating user developed programs.

At one point Simson said:

>It seems to me that you keep thinking of this computer as "unix
>computer for the masses." That's not what's being built.
...
>Put it this way: let's say we were talking about a cell phone, not a
>computer. How would you show the people who had logged into the cell
>phone?

This resonated with me since I had the experience of going to a high
school that mandated all students past a certain level of math would
purchase the same programmable calculator.  The result was that the
students in the school became prolific developers for that system.
Certain students were better developers than others and certain
programs became well known.  This self-signed key would allow XO
students to sign applications that they've developed and allow those
that use these programs to have some degree of certainty as to who's
programs they are running.  The same idea can be found in many
smart phone platforms.

-matt