>> It seems like more operating systems support MD5; for compatibility, maybe
>> it should be used. Does anyone have a list of what hash/cipher
>> types work out of the box for various operating systems?
>This is a very important consideration.  I like to be able to copy
>passwd lines between NetBSD and FreeBSD, for example.

	even if you set passwd.conf to blowfish, you can put MD5 passwd line
	in /etc/passwd.  passwd.conf determines the default cipher when
	*creating* passwd entries.

>I realize that I can set the defaults to md5, even if the default
>default changes to blowfish.  But given that blowfish is a boutique
>cipher, I would want to see a strong argument that there is something
>wrong with the md5 method before changing the default.  (Sorry if this
>has been made and I missed it.)

	please read this.
	http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix99/provos/provos_html/
	Niels Provos and David Mazie`res, "A Future-Adaptable Password Scheme",
	1999 USENIX Annual Technical Conference

itojun