Survey for Linux eToken users

From: Kimberley Homer homerk@vt.edu
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 10:29 AM
To: Kroll, Greg; Dunker, Mary
Subject: eToken survey summary

Greg and Mary,
...

I sent out 74 survey invitations, and received 13 completed surveys and three email messages from people who said they do not use a Linux machine to sign leave reports. The sample size is too small to have any statistical significance. Seven of the respondents said they were able to do some kind of digital signature, though the survey did not distinguish the test signing page from an actual leave report. Eight of the respondents (so there must have been some overlap) said they either couldn't get it working or it wasn't worth the trouble, and so they use Macintosh or Windows machines to sign their leave reports. One person would like to use an eToken with Solaris, and made the following comment:

"The eToken attaches flawlessly and can be queried for various parameters on my FreeBSD boxes using openct/opensc packages (see http://www.opensc-project.org/), but alas, cannot be used as formatted to sign because the Aladdin tools write in a proprietary closed format that requires the Aladdin blob library ("driver") to read. It is sad this is another case of proprietary software limiting the use of perfectly workable devices.

Solaris software would be even more useful to my group, because we all have at least one solaris box (though most have an apple or windows machine also, which is what they are using to sign leave)."

My conclusion is that eToken users without access to Windows or Macintosh machines should be encouraged to sign leave reports with a kiosk. Perhaps the next version of the eToken middleware for Linux will be more compelling, but the current version doesn't have enough usage to justify a lot of coding or documentation effort.
–

Kimberley Homer
Test Team Manager
Secure Enterprise Technology Initiatives (SETI)
Virginia Tech Information Systems
Office: (540) 231-3953
Email: homerk@vt.edu