My problem is with NIST, your problem is with DJB. Neither of us really want to defend either, (I assume, maybe you do want to defend one of them?) We just disagree which one is more likely to make the world worse.

I'm not taken in by the crazyness on either side, and while if pressed, it's obvious which side I would pick. I'm not so much picking a side, so much as complaining again, how we're letting a group with an earned reputation for being untrustworthy keep secrets about crypto. I hate the whole thing, but that's how little trust I have left in other people. The crazy guy is the on the side I hate less... but what to do?

edit:

> You're making my point for me. Nobody in the whole world is asking for you to take NIST's word for anything.

Literally everyone standardizing on Kyber is asking me to trust NIST, et al, and pay the additional overhead for setting up a TLS connection. I guess you could frame it as they're not asking, because I'm not being physically forced to interact with them... but then I try really hard not to engage with bad faith bait, when I'm able to resist.

No, nobody is asking you to trust NIST.