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The IRL social network is actually the important part of the trust structure.

The only one of these I've seen that really worked was the Debian developer version: you had to meet another Debian developer IRL, prove your identity, and only then could you get the key signed and join the club.

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> The IRL social network is actually the important part of the trust structure.

For Debian-style applications that are 100% about openness and 0% about secrecy, sure.

But if you want to secure communications between pro-democracy activists in China, or you're a Snowden-like whistleblower wanting to securely communicate with journalists - y'all probably don't want to be vouching for one another's keys.

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You need to meet 2 actually :)
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