What is encryption ?

On the most basic scale, think secret decoder ring from old cereal boxes.
Its just a way of scrambling the message so that only the recipient can decipher it.
GPG can also be used to cryptographically ’sign’ a message so that you know it came from the right person and hasn’t been tampered with en-route , a bit like using a wax seal in “ye olde days”.

Why use encryption ?

Google’s Gmail service uses encrypted HTTPS / IMAPS protocols but thats just between yourself and the gmail server , the data is not encrypted at all other times.
When the email is passing from one server to another as email often traverses multiple machines to reach it’s destination.   as well, once on the destination server the data is not encrypted it means that law enforcement, your ISP, the IT guy who works at the ISP, some kiddy script hacker who manages to get into your account can then read everything….think Sarah Palin + Yahoo.  Embarrassing.  Anyway, this leaves it a jumbled mess on the server and in transmission and no one will care about your email and can’t read it even if they decide to.
By using GPG you know that the mail can only be read by the person it was intended for.

What is GPG encryption ?

Advanced algorithm encryption.  Text scrambling using math in such a way, that a computer dedicated to the task of unscrambling it without your password would require 10-20 years depending on your setting.  Generally, it is felt that anything that is sensitive now, won’t be in that time frame thus rendering the act of decrypting it moot. It’s mega secure, like the NSA doesn’t like you using it since then they can’t read your email.
In fact encryption algorithms were banned from export for many years as they were classified as a weapon , now its just apathy that stops the general public from using it.

What is all this key stuff about ?

After installing the GPG application you will create a private / public keyset.
The private key is kept private by you , never loose control of this file , it is used to decrypt your messages.
The Public key is used by other to encrypt a message to you , this file is distributed publicly via email , usb keys or the keyservers.

Is it hard to do GPG encryption ?

Truth, no.
On Ubuntu as a mainstream example it is amazingly easy. Take a look at the community documentation.
There is a control panel for that under Applications->Accessories->Passwords and Keys

How do I incorporate that new key into my email stuff ?

If you use Evolution in Ubuntu then everything you need is installed , just create a Keyset and go.
If you use Thunderbird, grab the Enigmail extension.
If you use mutt or pine, you just need to specify the key footprint.
If you are using windows, I really have no idea besides the expensive proprietary stuff from PGP Corp.
On the Mac there is a bundle for PGP support in mail.app which has finally been updated to include support for Mac OS X 10.6.

Installation notes for Thunderbird on Ubuntu 9.10

1.) Applications -> Accessories ->  Passwords and Encryption keys
2.) File -> New.. -> Pop-Up window -> PGP Key
3.) Fill in the details.  Advanced option defaults are sane, maybe increase the bits to 4096
4.) Select expiration on your own judgement.  It is like making a key that isn’t good in 1 mon.
5.) Press OK.
6.) type a password twice, make it a good one.
7.) wait patiently while key is being generated.
8.) note the “Key ID” when you return to the Password and Encryption Keys app. It should be 8 char long.
9.) sudo apt-get install thunderbird enigmail
10.) goto http://enigmail.mozdev.org/download/index.php with info on your OS and Thunderbird to download.
11.) open TB and add the .xpi you downloaded.  restart TB.
12.) after that, the final stuff http://enigmail.mozdev.org/documentation/quickstart-ch3.php I haven’t done it.

Installation notes for Bash environment variable

Add this to your ~/.bashrc file :-

# gpg key
export GPGKEY=12D8FB3B

Have we missed anything ? Leave a comment and I’ll update the post.

This episode was recorded by my Asterisk server using ulaw and g729 codecs.

Drop in and say hi!

Despite this I am relentless with my mission to find decent (if not better) alternatives to the commercial apps i use and for a long time one of the things I could never replace was my trusty FTP program, CuteFTP from Globalscape….until now..

Ok, so gftp and LOADS of other foss ftp programs have been around for ages BUT i always found cuteftp the most intuitive gui compared to any other ftp apps (and I include commercial ones in that statement).

Then one fateful day several months ago I came across Filezilla, an open-source ftp client (and server if you want it) that blew my socks off.  Running over 250 websites for various clients I use ftp more than most people i know so for me speed and decent gui is essential.

Filezilla does everything you would expect from an ftp client (ftp, ftps, sftp, resume, folder comparing etc http://filezilla-project.org/client_features.php) but the thing that impressed me the most was the level of attention that was given the the gui design.

I regularly export my site settings to my dropbox as a straight xml file so i can access all my sites from any pc i like without any hassle though any sensitive ones are not stored/exported (I use Keepassx to keep contorl of my passwords but ill post on that seperately cos thats awesome and foss too!)

Im not going into the specifics here as you can check  the project website for that info but its available as Windows & Mac binaries and GNU/Linux source is also available so it should run on anything. Ubuntu includes it in the repos but I found quite a few of the gui features (like synced browsing and quite connect button) were missing from the repo version compated to the latest source tarball.

So why not head over to http://filezilla-project.org/ and install it, or do a the following old trusty (if you are on ubuntu).

sudo apt-get install filezilla

This post isnt a technical review of the app just another notch of my foss bedpost. Enjoy….

Vollmer Hiking

2. Informative chat about the web based personal music library software Ampache.org with special guest Karl Vollmer , the lead developer of the project.
Asking the questions are Kjetil and Mark.

* Version 3.5 released on 2008/05/05

3. Our Recommendations for this episode :-

* Karl Vollmer – Musician – Stan Rogers and Movie – Entre les murs
* Kriss – Doves – Kingdom of Rust.
* Marie-Laure – Bookmooch
* John – John Cleese’s Speech at Graham Chapman’s funeral.
* Mark – Trailer Park Boys
* Kjetil – Montée
* Tom – Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band
* Kevin Purdy – Awesome Window Manager , The Presets and cycling in the spring Oregon rain.

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