> Getting punched in the face is actually a necessary human condition for a healthy civilization.
Aside from signed commits, we need to bring back GPG key parties and web of trust. When using a project you would know how many punches away from the committers you are.
PGP is more famous for "web of trust" topologies, not chains of trust.
For all of their nerd cred, key parties didn't accomplish very much (as evidenced by the fact that nothing on the Internet really broke when the WoT imploded a few years ago[1]). The "real" solution here is mostly cultural: treating third-party software like the risky thing it actually is, rather than a free source of pre-screened labor.
Yes, but there was also little pressure to really build the WOT. People, like myself, did it because it was fun, but no one really relied on it. This could change, but it is still far from certain if it'd work given enough pressure.
Nowadays i achieve this with linkedin[1] connections. Less nerd cred, but achieves roughly the same purpose (most of the people I care about in my niche are at most a 3rd degree connection - a friend of a friend of a friend).
