gerrylowry
Jeff, I do realize what code signing is.
Code signing is like buying an insurance policy. A company is issuing you a validation that your code is yours and, if the client trusts you, they can trust the code. The ramifications of code signing forgeries are enormous, with no trusted code available. It's not perfect, but it is some sort of protection to the consumer of the code. That makes the expense valid.
gerrylowry
Ideally, GPG could make that possible if Microsoft would support GPG as a code signing alternative.
That would definitely be ideal, though I'm not holding my breath for it to happen. :)
As for food banks, I went through the ketchup sandwich stage myself and hope I'm not forced into it again. I would likely have to give up code signing certificates (I've given up a number of relatively important subscriptions this year as a result of the economy) too. I'm not sure that would make me feel that a cert was less valuable though.
As for a Microsoft Certificate services, it's not an additional product but rather a part of Microsoft's server OS. I don't know of any third party options for a Microsoft network. And unfortunately, it's not much use outside an intranet.
Jeff
