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

xgivolari · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 26 Jul 2021 Posts: 99

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Most info on this I could find online is either horribly outdated or just runs down a basic list of features.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 · Advocate Joined: 27 Aug 2013 Posts: 3196

One important option is missing:
"default"

figueroa · Posted: Mon May 02, 2022 4:56 am Post subject:

No preference.
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papu · Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2022 9:16 am Post subject:

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

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pjp · Administrator Joined: 16 Apr 2002 Posts: 20099

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).
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togooroo · n00b Joined: 12 Oct 2021 Posts: 15 Location: United States

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