GnuTLS vs NSS vs OpenSSL - Which TLS library do you prefer?

Message

xgivolari · Post by **xgivolari** » Fri Apr 29, 2022 4:10 pm

Since many packages give you the choice to pick a single TLS library to support, I am curious which one is the most popular among Gentoo users.

Most info on this I could find online is either horribly outdated or just runs down a basic list of features. If you have specific reasons for picking one of them, please share them down below. Thanks!

Note that I chose not to include implementations such as wolfSSL/LibreSSL/mbedTLS, as I don't think they are comparable with the other three in the current GNU/Linux ecosystem.

szatox · Post by **szatox** » Fri Apr 29, 2022 4:15 pm

One important option is missing:
"default"

figueroa · Post by **figueroa** » Mon May 02, 2022 4:56 am

No preference.

papu · Post by **papu** » Thu Jun 09, 2022 9:16 am

i use default openssl, would it be possible to use gnutls instead openssl?
i think not but i'ld like it, by de way i don't really know the differences in characteristics and performance between both hehehe

Post by **pjp** » Thu Jun 09, 2022 5:31 pm

My preference is for the option to choose a single dependency.

~30 installed packages depend on openssl (I didn't check to see if they could use something else).

3 packages depend on gnutls (2 don't allow an alternative; the other appears to be capable of using openssl).

togooroo · Post by **togooroo** » Sun Jul 03, 2022 7:59 pm

Personally I prefer mbedtls, it (says) it cares about code quality the most, and I find that an important aspect of a crypto library.