[TriLUG] OT: winmail.dat

[Chris Knowles]

On Thu, 2003-06-26 at 09:28, STaylor at srspos.com wrote:
> What about all the PGP keys I see at the bottom of emails coming into
> my client from the list.
> 
> Which is neither linux or Microsoft based.
> 
> No one ever seems to mention those!!
> 
> Are they more acceptable than winmail.dat??
> 
> Shawn
> 
>  
> 
<SNIP>

While I desperately believe that I shouldn't get involved here, I feel
that I need to answer this, because I'm a believer in omnipresent
cryptography.

(Although you'll not that due to a rash of forgetfulness, I don't have
my keyring on me today.  Note the irony)

PGP (or GPG as used by most Linux users) is a "Tool for secure
communication and data storage"  

The PGP keys and signatures you see are ways to verify that an e-mail
came from the person that it came from, and that it hasn't been modified
in transit.

If you have questions about using it, I suggest the FAQ,   
http://www.gnupg.org/(en)/documentation/faqs.html

Or for more in depth info, check out the rest of hte documentation,
including some really good guides and howtos.
http://www.gnupg.org/(en)/documentation/index.html

CJK