I don't understand the popularity of the idea of QKD (often coupled with OTP). From what I can tell, a quantum-safe key exchange algorithm like McEliece has just as much security while being able to operate over current networks, through repeaters, and not requiring single-photon emitters. Combining this with AES seems convenient and practical.

1. Why would one ever choose QKD over McEliece?

The only reason I can discern is that there is some possibility that there is a yet-to-be-discovered algorithm that may weaken McEliece or AES.

I don't understand the popularity of the idea of QKD (often coupled with OTP). From what I can tell, a quantum-safe key exchange algorithm like McEliece has just as much security while operating over current networks, through repeaters, and not requiring single-photon emitters. Combining this with AES seems convenient and practical.

1. Why would one ever choose QKD over McEliece?

The only reason I can discern is that there is some possibility that a yet-to-be-discovered algorithm may weaken McEliece or AES.