From: Andreas Jellinghaus (ajdungeon.inka.de)
Date: Mon Sep 08 2008 - 08:26:09 CDT

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you need for types of software:
 * your application
 * a plugin for your smart card
 * a middleware
 * a driver for your smart card reader

typical choices are:
 * firefox
 * a pkcs11 library such as opensc (does support some cards but not all)
 * pcsc-lite as middleware
 * some driver for the reader. for ccid compatible readers: "ccid" software

of course some vendors sell a pkcs11 library for use with their cards,
and some vendors of readers ship their own driver for pcsc-lite which
can be used instead of ccid.

some home banking applications have smart card support integrated.
then the chain is:
 * home banking application
 * pcsc-lite as middleware
 * some driver for the reader.

these days pcsc-lite and ccid support most existing hardware, so openct
isn't that important. but you can still use it:
a) with openct as drive for the reader (replacement for ccid)
b) only in combination with opensc: use "opensc+openct" as combo with
   applications like firefox. no need for pcsc-lite.

if your reader is supported by ccid only or by openct only, the choice
is simple. if it is supported by both (e.g. most ccid compatible readers),
then often the "ccid" package is better (e.g. supports pinpad readers,
which openct does not).

confused? "ccid" is both a standard for usb (think "keyboard", "mouse",
"ccid") for a whole class of devices - usb smart card readers (and crypto
tokens?). and it is the name of a free software that implements a pcsc-lite
driver so you can use such devices with pcsc-lite (and whatever applications
on top).

if I'm not mistaken these days the ccid software even supports more readers,
including some that don't implement the "ccid" standard.

hope this helps.

Regards, Andreas
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