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<!-- This manual is last updated 4 March 2015 for version
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Copyright (C) 2001-2015 Free Software Foundation, Inc.\\
Copyright (C) 2001-2015 Nikos Mavrogiannopoulos

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<title>GnuTLS 3.5.4: Preface</title>

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<a name="Preface"></a>
<div class="header">
<p>
Next: <a href="Introduction-to-GnuTLS.html#Introduction-to-GnuTLS" accesskey="n" rel="next">Introduction to GnuTLS</a>, Previous: <a href="index.html#Top" accesskey="p" rel="prev">Top</a>, Up: <a href="index.html#Top" accesskey="u" rel="up">Top</a> &nbsp; [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Function-and-Data-Index.html#Function-and-Data-Index" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
</div>
<hr>
<a name="Preface-1"></a>
<h2 class="chapter">1 Preface</h2>

<p>This document demonstrates and explains the <acronym>GnuTLS</acronym>
library API.  A brief introduction to the protocols and the technology
involved is also included so that an application programmer can
better understand the <acronym>GnuTLS</acronym> purpose and actual offerings.
Even if <acronym>GnuTLS</acronym> is a typical library software, it operates
over several security and cryptographic protocols which require the
programmer to make careful and correct usage of them. Otherwise it
is likely to only obtain a false sense of security.
The term of security is very broad even if restricted to computer
software, and cannot be confined to a single cryptographic
library.  For that reason, do not consider any program secure just
because it uses <acronym>GnuTLS</acronym>; there are several ways to compromise
a program or a communication line and <acronym>GnuTLS</acronym> only helps with
some of them.
</p>
<p>Although this document tries to be self contained, basic network
programming and public key infrastructure (PKI) knowledge is assumed 
in most of it. A good introduction to networking can be found 
in [<em>STEVENS</em>], to public key infrastructure in [<em>GUTPKI</em>]
and to security engineering in [<em>ANDERSON</em>].
</p>
<p>Updated versions of the <acronym>GnuTLS</acronym> software and this document
will be available from <a href="http://www.gnutls.org/">http://www.gnutls.org/</a>.
</p>



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