Let's Encrypt is just a player in the same ecosystem. Effectively they're no different from Entrust, GoDaddy, Google Trust Services, Digicert, Sectigo, etc etc.
Let's Encrypt started their operations with _automated_ certificate issuance only. They also do not do OV/EV certificates that are much, much harder to automate without providing any real benefits.
So, LE's mission is to issue certificates under the rules set by CAs and Browsers. (Yes, CAs do participate in setting up rules for CAs.
Where does the proverbial political strength of Entrust and similar entities come from
Generally supporting non-automated certificate issuance. Effectively, technical debt. A lot of older enterprises have done manual certificate issuance, and they don't feel the pressure/reason to switch.
Comments
Let's Encrypt is just a player in the same ecosystem. Effectively they're no different from Entrust, GoDaddy, Google Trust Services, Digicert, Sectigo, etc etc.
Let's Encrypt started their operations with _automated_ certificate issuance only. They also do not do OV/EV certificates that are much, much harder to automate without providing any real benefits.
So, LE's mission is to issue certificates under the rules set by CAs and Browsers. (Yes, CAs do participate in setting up rules for CAs.
Generally supporting non-automated certificate issuance. Effectively, technical debt. A lot of older enterprises have done manual certificate issuance, and they don't feel the pressure/reason to switch.