Reddit Reacts to 47-Day SSL Certificates
Apple is pushing to reduce the validity period of public SSL/TLS certificates to 47 days. This initiative has received backing from the CA/B Forum and major industry players, including Sectigo. By 2029, the plan is to ensure that no public certificate lasts longer than a month and a half. For all the details, check out our explainer here.
At first glance, this might seem like a minor tweak for the average user. But in the tech community, it ignited a fiery debate on Reddit, where experts, DevOps engineers, and system admins are voicing their opinions loud and clear.
Many professionals view this not merely as a policy adjustment but as a significant shift that could have far-reaching implications for the way digital security is managed. The prospect of shorter certificate lifespans raises questions about the operational impact on businesses and the potential for increased workload in managing these certificates. Some believe that, in the long run, this will undermine the credibility of SSL certificates and lead to the discovery of better solutions.
Let’s dive into why the announcement of 47-day certificates has stirred such a reaction, what the chatter on Reddit reveals, the challenges that professionals are worried about, and how the IT community is using humor to ease the tension.
Why is this change so controversial?
Why did this proposal cause such a strong reaction in the IT community? Many people see the big drop in SSL certificate validity (going from 398 days to just 47) as a major disruption to their usual workflows. At first, it seems logical. Updating more often should improve security, right?
The reality is much more complicated. IT systems often have many certificates to manage, sometimes dozens or even hundreds, and these are handled in different ways, including manual processes, semi-automated systems, and basic scheduled tasks.
Because of this change, the number of renewals will increase significantly. For many organizations, managing these certificates manually will become very difficult, and there’s a real risk of downtime. Even a small mistake can lead to service outages, affecting everything from company websites to important banking APIs.
Small and medium-sized businesses, especially those without dedicated teams for managing certificates or proper systems in place, may struggle the most with this change.
Larger organizations also face added pressure, as they often deal with existing technical debt. Starting in 2029, domain validation will need to be renewed every 10 days, making the situation even more challenging.
For many in the industry, this isn’t just a simple “technical update”; it’s a major shift from manual control to needing automated and smooth management of digital certificates.
General reaction
On Reddit, especially in subreddits like r/sysadmin, r/devops, and r/netsec, the news of the 47-day certificates blew up in the comments. The comments were filled with a mix of irony, frustration, and worry. Users shared memes and had serious talks about how these changes could disrupt their workflows. Many were concerned about the extra work and the risk of mistakes, while others used humor to lighten the mood.
Sarcasm
1337Chef says: “Lmao every company will have to hire a certificate-guy. So many systems that wont have automatic cert-handling by 2029”
jason9045 says: “I’m going to HVAC school I swear to god”
Editor’s note: HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning. In other words, the commenter is saying, “I’m done with IT – I’m leaving tech for manual labour.”
ohwowgee says: “This is a 4 years from now me problem. (Bunch of automation/ACME tho)
Approval
Unnamed-3891 says: “Every company will still have internal CA. The browsers will still trust their 5y+ certificates just as they do today.”
RandomSkratch says: “Well I’m trying to be positive with this because at least I’ll stop forgetting how to do it”.
PizzaUltra says: “From a security perspective: I really like and understand that change.
From a sysadmin and operations perspective: What a stupid change. In the perfect cloud native, fully automated fantasy land, this might work and not even generate that much overhead work. In the real world, this will generate lots of manual work. At least, until folks replace their legacy hardware and manufacturers patch their shit.”
Irritation
juicefarm says: “Might as well make them expire after 1 second at this point if this is the guiding logic. You want to get nuts. LETS GET NUTS!!”
rolandjump says: “I have a hard time updating certificates already…wow. I’ll need to find a way to script this”
SINdicate says: “That will be the end of it. This system is already insecure and stupid, gives governments and CA the right to forge certificates. The community will fork the whole CA system and make an alternate ca-certificates package, maybe with certificate stapling and blockchain built in. I hope it happens. This industry was always a low value scam.”
One point that came up repeatedly in the comments was that, while the idea makes sense from a security perspective, it completely overlooks how real-world teams operate with limited resources. Companies without a strong DevOps culture are hit the hardest — especially where certificate management is treated as a side task rather than a structured, well-defined process.
What worries redditors?
Beneath the irony and memes on Reddit are some very real concerns.
Certificates that used to be updated once every 13 months will now need to be renewed more than eight times a year. Many professionals acknowledge that surviving without full automation will be nearly impossible—and not everyone is equipped for that yet.
itspie says: “If everyone does implement acme. I’m dead.”
Plus, the more often you update, the greater the chance of making a mistake. Frequent renewals mean a higher risk of errors. One forgotten certificate, and your service will go down.
gredr says: “It’s excellent news, and for all the right reasons. Everyone should be managing certs automatically, there’s no excuse for not doing it.”
adh1003 sarcastically disagrees: “Yes because everything is free and no development time is needed.”
Conclusion
Reddit’s reaction to the initiative from Apple and the CA/B Forum made one thing very clear. The community is not against better security, they are against changes that are hard to implement. Most people understand the reason for this change, which is to improve digital trust, get rid of old certificates, and encourage better automation. But the rollout and tight timeline have sparked frustration, especially for teams stuck with legacy systems or limited automation.
For businesses, the message is straightforward: adapt now. Embrace automated certificate management to streamline processes. Reassess your DevOps workflows for efficiency. Invest in upskilling your teams to tackle these changes head-on. Finally, invest in a strong and reliable infrastructure that can handle these new requirements. By getting ahead of the curve, you’ll be ready when short certificate lifespans become the norm.
Ensure the security of your website and protect your users’ sensitive information with SpaceLama’s trusted SSL solutions.
Don’t compromise on safety. It’s a dangerous game that’s not worth playing. Take action now to secure your site, and enhance your credibility and trustworthiness.
Visit us today to explore SpaceLama’s range of SSL certificates (disclaimer: we’ve got them all) and start safeguarding your online presence.