[theforum] fundraising idea

[Judah McAuley]

Jeff Howden wrote:
> 
> anybody but thawte please.  i can't recommend them for ssl because they're
> owned by verisign.
> 
> besides, there are a number of other, much less expensive providers that
> many on thelist have had good experiences with.  geotrust is a fine example
> and backed by more of a household name (experian) than even verisign.

Thawte isn't that evil. I remember when they were bought out by verisign 
  and I was afraid that everything would change. But, at least the last 
time I worked with them, most everything stayed the same. The certs were 
still cheaper than Versign, they were still based outside the US (with 
all the encryption advantages that brought at the time), they still 
provided live support (and competent at that) via IRC. I even remember 
getting an email from Thawte's president explaining the merger and how 
it wasn't going to turn them evil. It was a major issue at the time and 
I haven't seen anything that has shown be that they have particularly 
gone down the road of Verisign thus far, in spite of the ownership of 
the company. I admit that I get more warning messages when my cert is 
about to expire than I would like, but I expect that from most 
companies. Unless there is a more substantial accusation than "they are 
owned by Verisign" (which I do take seriously), I'm not completely 
opposed to an affiliate relationship with them.

That being said, I'd prefer a relationship with Geotrust, as Verisign is 
evil and I don't want to line their pockets, even indirectly.

Judah