RE: OpenPGP (GnuPG) vs. S/MIME

["Aditya, ALD [Aditya Lalit Deshmukh]" <aditya.deshmukh () online gateway technolabs net>]

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> I'd like to open a discussion about PGP vs. S/MIME .
>
> I've been pondering secure (or at least verifiable) mail lately and I
> see these two standards as the main options available at this point.
>
> It seems to me that PGP is the better of the two options because:
> - - cryptographically, it appears more secure (i.e. larger public key
> sizes possible)

no i can make pgp keys of 8192 bit size as well as openssl key of the same size so the larger key sizes is not an issue

- as you asked it i tried to download a version of pgp that would make keys greater that 8192, i got ckt verison that 
can make 16 * 1024 bit keys but with openssl i can go higher very easily like 32 * 1024 bit 

about key algos / hash algos 

both can use the same algorithms viz: MD5 and SHA1
and encryption can be 3DES or AES 


> - - it seems to be more widely used

based on what data may i know please ?

> - - it is easier to use (debateable)

debetable, yes but both have good frontends that are freeware and very stable to for everyday use.

> - - its free

both are free ( pgp is on gunpg.org and ssl is at openssl.org ) 

> - - PGP in general is more flexible

flexible is a very general term, depends upon what you are doing.



the only 


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