[kwlug-disc] Secure email alternative

[B. S.]

On 06/28/2016 09:58 PM, Paul Nijjar via kwlug-disc wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 28, 2016 at 08:41:15PM -0400, B.S. wrote:
>> On 06/28/2016 05:54 PM, Paul Nijjar via kwlug-disc wrote:
>
>>> of the process by making potential applicants do sysadminny things as
>>> part of the job application process? Configuring a mail client is not
>>> proof that someone will make a good sysadmin, but being unable to do
>>> so is evidence that maybe they shouldn't be applying.
>>
>> Interesting. Thanks. No way I could have come up with this.
>>
>> Not being able to configure a mail client from the command line,
>> given the sheer number of them, shouldn't negate anyone. Depends
>> upon how much or frequently one has done so. More telling would be
>> given a 'template', doing so. Or more telling, adding 20 new users,
>> having an example of the first, by coding a script to do the rest.
>
> One reason I like this approach is precisely because we would not be
> forcing anybody to set up a particular email client. They just need to
> be able to communicate with the server we set up. If they want to use
> a command line client, then fine. If they want to use a graphical one,
> then also fine. They could even use a webmail client, but one
> constraint would be that we should not be able to identify the
> applicant's "real" email from this connection. (Yes, it is hard to
> obscure one's identity completely, especially without TOR.)

D'OH! I completely misread your mention of e-mail. I took it as a 
candidate skill test (ssh in, configure a client) - having forgotten the 
e-mail suggestion to your OP. Reading it now as, if they can't configure 
<some> e-mail client for themselves, to be able to participate ... that 
makes absolute sense. Apologies, I misread.

> I don't care too much that applicants know specific technologies,
> because technologies are always changing and because our environment
> is weird. But in my job I am asked to learn new things and
> troubleshoot unfamiliar environments all the time. That is what I
> would like to screen for when looking to hire sysadmins.

Gotcha. Makes perfect sense. Thanks again for responding. And good luck 
with the idea.