Re: interoperability of ;binary

[mcs@netscape.com (Mark C Smith)]

"Kurt D. Zeilenga" wrote:
> 
> In this particular case, I suggest we consider removing the
> ";binary" transfer option from the specification and all
> schema elements dependent on it, including: certificate,
> userCertificate, and strongAuthenticationUser.  Then I suggest
> reintroduction of these schema elements with alternative
> string encodings as was done for LDAPv2 (RFC 2559).

A string encoding of a certificate is not useful unless it is fully
reversible without loss (because PKI applications need access to the
original DER certificate).  So why bother?  The ;binary option as it is
used today for transfer of attribute values such as those of type
userCertificate is widely deployed and useful.  I would prefer that we
try a little harder to clarify the RFCs than remove this feature.

-Mark Smith
 Netscape