I think that:
1 Answer
Actually, since this is a security site, and I expect almost any algorithm-specific question to be on the Cryptography site instead of here, I personally think we shouldn't even have any algorithm-specific tags, at all.
Rather, I would instead of both sha2 and sha256, I would retag them both as hash; I would do the same for sha and sha-1. Same with md5.
I would do the same for encryption algorithms, too - e.g. instead of aes and 3des simply have encryption, or possibly symmetric-encryption.
My point is, most of those questions either: (a) should be asked on crypto, because it is about the algorithm details; or (b) mostly irrelevant which algorithm is used, from a security management point of view; or (c) apply to a range of algorithms, or the specific algorithm is not known in the question (e.g. which algorithm to use in a specific situation).
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1Algorthmic tags may exist as there are questions about how to correctly use those algorithms. Usage of crypto is a topic of security.SE. Crypto internals is a topic of crypto.SE Oct 5, 2012 at 15:24
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2And considering the low volume of questions tagged with that compared to the generic hash tag, AviD's solution makes sense.– user10211Oct 6, 2012 at 15:05
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1@AndreyBotalov "Usage of crypto" would most often be irrelevant of the algorithm. "When should I use symmetric encryption", it doesnt matter if you're using AES or DES; "How can I ensure my signature is valid for the correct public key" is irrelevant of RSA, DSA, or anything else; "How should we do key management" only matters if it is symmetric or asymmetric. And so on.– AviD ModOct 8, 2012 at 21:31
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1Think of it this way: Crypto is a tool. In a professional's toolbox, there are many similar tools; if you want to ask specifics about the tools, there is a site for that. Just because we have many different heads for our drill, we dont need to tag eighth-inch-drillbit separately from three-and-half-inch-drillbit; or flathead-screwdriver from philipshead-screwdriver - using the tools would be the same either way.– AviD ModOct 8, 2012 at 21:36
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