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Alex Stapletonc5fffd32014-03-18 15:29:00 +00001Frequently asked questions
Alex Gaynorde06b292014-02-18 16:40:09 -08002==========================
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Alex Gaynor59a6bc62014-02-18 18:13:48 -08004How does ``cryptography`` compare to NaCl (Networking and Cryptography Library)?
Alex Gaynorde06b292014-02-18 16:40:09 -08005--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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7While ``cryptography`` and `NaCl`_ both share the goal of making cryptography
8easier, and safer, to use for developers, ``cryptography`` is designed to be a
Alex Gaynorc37adab2014-02-18 16:46:58 -08009general purpose library, interoperable with existing systems, while NaCl
10features a collection of hand selected algorithms.
Alex Gaynorde06b292014-02-18 16:40:09 -080011
Alex Gaynor5809d482014-02-19 13:33:18 -080012``cryptography``'s :ref:`recipes <cryptography-layout>` layer has similar goals
13to NaCl.
Alex Gaynorde06b292014-02-18 16:40:09 -080014
15If you prefer NaCl's design, we highly recommend `PyNaCl`_.
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Alex Gaynord1349d32015-12-28 18:23:11 -050017.. _`NaCl`: https://nacl.cr.yp.to/
Alex Gaynorde06b292014-02-18 16:40:09 -080018.. _`PyNaCl`: https://pynacl.readthedocs.org
Alex Gaynorc77db592016-03-09 07:12:06 -050019
20Compiling ``cryptography`` on OS X produces a ``fatal error: 'openssl/aes.h' file not found`` error
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23This happens because OS X 10.11 no longer includes a copy of OpenSSL.
24``cryptography`` now provides wheels which include a statically linked copy of
25OpenSSL. You're seeing this error because your copy of pip is too old to find
26our wheel files. Upgrade your copy of pip with ``pip install -U pip`` and then
27try install ``cryptography`` again.