[SmartcardServices-Dev] Effort to rebuild smartcard services on Mac from ground up

[Disiena, Ridley (MSFC-IS60)[EAST]]

If Apple releases the CryptoTokendKit API, there are indications that it may replace the need for PCSC:
http://ludovicrousseau.blogspot.com/2014/11/os-x-yosemite-and-smart-cards-status.html

Of course CyptoTokenKit doesn't help us if Apple does not provide the API documentation. No indication of what would replace CDSA/tokend though.

-Ridley

From: Chris Inacio <nacho319 at gmail.com<mailto:nacho319 at gmail.com>>
Date: Friday, April 17, 2015 at 11:46 AM
To: "smartcardservices-dev at lists.macosforge.org<mailto:smartcardservices-dev at lists.macosforge.org>" <smartcardservices-dev at lists.macosforge.org<mailto:smartcardservices-dev at lists.macosforge.org>>
Subject: [SmartcardServices-Dev] Effort to rebuild smartcard services on Mac from ground up

Hello all,

I'm mostly a frustrated smartcard user at this point, but I play the role of developer (or development manager) in my day job.  So I have a combination of Mac OS X 10.10, Centrify (with its smartcard additions), PIV/CAC type smart cards, a Yubikey NEO, and would like it if GnuPG actually worked.

Mostly, the CAC/PIV type smartcards actually work (I believe really related to the Centrify, but who knows, really…) but the YubiKey + GnuPG just do NOT work reliably (if at all.)

Strangely, it seems like pcsctest can always find the card readers / devices attached to my machine reliably; but I do occasionally run into random bugs of things that simply don't work.  And many of my colleagues with Mac's often have numerous problems with smartcards operating correctly.  (I personally have 3 smartcards, not including the Yubikey NEO.)  In generally, various colleagues use some combination of: the opensource tokend updates, Centrify, and Thursby PKard.  But all solutions seem to have bugs / issues filed with Apple.

My question is, to someone who hopefully has thought about this a lot more than I have looked into it:  how many man months would it be to start over?  Take an up-to-date drop of PCSC from open source and do a new cleanroom port to Mac possibly?

Second question:  would people even want that?

Regards,
Chris Inacio

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