Last month, I attended the GNOME.Asia Summit 2025 held at the IIJ office in Tokyo. This was my fourth time attending the summit, following previous events in Taipei (2010), Beijing (2015), and Delhi (2016).

As I live near Tokyo, this year’s conference was a unique experience for me: an opportunity to welcome the international GNOME community to my home city rather than traveling abroad. Reconnecting with the community after several years provided a helpful perspective on how our ecosystem has evolved.

Addressing the post-quantum transition

During the summit, I delivered a keynote address regarding post-quantum cryptography (PQC) and desktop. The core of my presentation focused on the “Harvest Now, Decrypt Later” (HNDL) type of threats, where encrypted data is collected today with the intent of decrypting it once quantum computing matures. The talk was followed by the history and the current status of PQC support in crypto libraries including OpenSSL, GnuTLS, and NSS, and concluded with the next steps recommended for the users and developers.

It is important to recognize that classical public key cryptography, which is vulnerable to quantum attacks, plays an integral role on the modern desktop: from secure web browsing to the underlying verification of system updates. Given that major government timelines (such as NIST and the NSA’s CNSA 2.0 ) are pushing for a full migration to quantum-resistant algorithms between 2027 and 2035, the GNU/Linux desktop should prioritize “crypto-agility” to remain secure in the coming decade.

From discussion to implementation: Crypto Usage Analyzer

One of the tools I discussed during my talk was crypto-auditing , a project designed to help developers identify and update the legacy cryptography usage. At the time of the summit, the tool was limited to a command-line interface, which I noted was a barrier to wider adoption.

Inspired by the energy of the summit, I spent part of the recent holiday break developing a GUI for crypto-auditing. By utilizing AI-assisted development tools, I was able to rapidly prototype an application, which I call “Crypto Usage Analyzer” , that makes the auditing data more accessible.

Conclusion

The summit in Tokyo had a relatively small audience, which resulted in a cozy and professional atmosphere. This smaller scale proved beneficial for technical exchange, as it allowed for focused discussions on desktop-related topics than is often possible at larger conferences.

Attending GNOME.Asia 2025 was a reminder of the steady work required to keep the desktop secure and relevant. I appreciate the efforts of the organizing committee in bringing the summit to Tokyo, and I look forward to continuing my work on making security libraries and tools more accessible for our users and developers.