I am soliciting ideas/thoughts as to the easiest way/version of software to do some simple PGP communicating. I run only linux VM's and want to be able to send simple encrypted messages. I am only interested in open pgp and not CA type validation. I am looking for GUI and not command line!! e.g. - I have a friend and I want to send a simple encrypted PM to that person. We privately exchange our public key(s) and forget all that keyserver bullsh**. I trust them and they trust me so the exchange is manual and that is the preference. I add their key to my keyring and we are ready to go. I have used PGP for many years but that was in windows, and frankly during the 32 bit "stage of life". At this time I am using mostly 64 bit, but would consider building a 32 bit VM if that opened up software options unavailable to 64 bit flavors of Ubuntu. So there you have it. How would I accomplish such a simple task software-wise? I only need to encrypt, decrypt, and sign messages and no other fancy functions are even wanted! ps - I really miss the 6.5.8 PGP days my friends!
Thanks, I'll go and do some reading about it. As you can see, what I want is basic. Yet, the security of encrypted PMs/messages is really important to me. btw --- you are one of the folks I would enjoy communicating with in that fashion. I find some of our joint "aspirations" challenging and thought provoking. Are there any significant operational differences: 32 bit vs 64 bit operating system in KGpg
When you say "PM", do you mean via Wilders? If you're instead referring to IM/chat, there are better approaches that are just as secure but far less laborious. I don't use chat, so I'm way out of date: Pidgin with OTR. For email, Thunderbird with Enigmail is the easiest setup. One hint: In Enigmail Preferences / Sending, enable "Confirm before sending". That protects against accidently sending unencrypted and/or to the wrong recipient. Thanks Please feel free. That I don't know. I use 64 bit for everything by default.
I can't comment on the "official" 6.5.8 versions. The CKT version of 6.5.8 works very well on XP. It has no problem encrypting chat windows, response windows on forums like these, clipboard contents, etc. I can't say if the CKT versions run on anything newer than XP. Only way to find out is to try. They're still secure and integrate well with the desktop apps I've tried. As long as the key limitations of the new versions are respected, it should be compatible with the new versions and possibly GPG as well.
KGpg looks nice enough from reading their site. I installed it directly from the ubuntu software center and the icon on the launch bar must be missing its target somehow. I'll post down in Unix to continue the conversation. At this point it will be a linux "technical" conversation. noone particular ----- > yep, 6.5.8 always worked flawlessly in XP. There is no gui version for linux and I don't want to revert to command line.
I'll have to look at it. I remember the 64 bit thing was an issue in the past. For now I have opened a linux "thread" to examine that route. https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/kgpg-install-issues-in-trusty-14-04.369020/
SOLVED. I posted the solution in the linux forum (the link is one post above in this thread). Working fast and seamless. I am very happy with the outcome because now I don't have to attempt a wine solution. Gnupg is native and fast, with Kgpg just frontending the program.