[openssl-dev] [openssl.org #3897] request: add BLAKE2 hash function (let's kill md5sum!)

[Salz, Rich]

> Well, the reason I'm here is that the GNU coreutils maintainers rely on
> openssl for high-performance crypto, and blake2sp might be the best
> algorithm for the new "b2sum" tool, which I hope will replace "md5sum"
> in the toolboxes of system administrators everywhere.

Yes, I went and read the thread over there.  I think this is an interesting and worthwhile discussion to have, but I took "rt" off the list as I'm not sure the ticket-tracking system is the best place for that :)

If the goal is replace md5sum, then one thing to think about is which digest will have the widest reach for everyone?  Can all four versions be implemented in (mostly?) portable C code?  Is performance the only real difference?  Suppose we took just blake2s?