[Announce] GnuPG 1.4.8 released

Werner Koch wk at gnupg.org
Thu Dec 20 10:40:28 CET 2007


Hello!
    
We are pleased to announce the availability of a new stable GnuPG-1
release: Version 1.4.8.

This is GnuPG's 10th birthday celebration release.

The GNU Privacy Guard (GnuPG) is GNU's tool for secure communication
and data storage.  It is a complete and free replacement of PGP and
can be used to encrypt data and to create digital signatures.  It
includes an advanced key management facility, samrtcard support and is
compliant with the OpenPGP Internet standard as described by RFC-4880
(the recently released update of RFC-2440).

Note that this version is from the GnuPG-1 series and thus smaller
than those from the GnuPG-2 series, easier to build and also better
portable.  In contrast to GnuPG-2 (e.g version 2.0.8) it comes with no
support for S/MIME or other tools useful for desktop environments.
Fortunately you may install both versions alongside on the same system
without any conflict.


Getting the Software
====================

Please follow the instructions found at http://www.gnupg.org/download/
or read on:

GnuPG 1.4.8 may be downloaded from one of the GnuPG mirror sites or
direct from ftp://ftp.gnupg.org/gcrypt/ .  The list of mirrors can be
found at http://www.gnupg.org/mirrors.html .  Note, that GnuPG is not
available at ftp.gnu.org.

On the mirrors you should find the following files in the *gnupg*
directory:

  gnupg-1.4.8.tar.bz2 (3242k)
  gnupg-1.4.8.tar.bz2.sig

      GnuPG source compressed using BZIP2 and OpenPGP signature.

  gnupg-1.4.8.tar.gz (4550k)
  gnupg-1.4.8.tar.gz.sig

      GnuPG source compressed using GZIP and OpenPGP signature.

  gnupg-1.4.7-1.4.8.diff.bz2 (330k)

      A patch file to upgrade a 1.4.7 GnuPG source. 

Select one of them. To shorten the download time, you probably want to
get the BZIP2 compressed file.  Please try another mirror if
exceptional your mirror is not yet up to date.

In the *binary* directory, you should find these files:

  gnupg-w32cli-1.4.8.exe (2117k)
  gnupg-w32cli-1.4.8.exe.sig

      GnuPG compiled for Microsoft Windows and OpenPGP signature.
      This is a command line only version; the source files are the
      same as given above.  Note, that this is a minimal installer and
      unless you are just in need for the gpg binary, you are better
      off using the full featured installer at http://www.gpg4win.org .
      A new version of Gpg4win, including this version of GnuPG will
      be available and announced soon.
  

Checking the Integrity
======================

In order to check that the version of GnuPG which you are going to
install is an original and unmodified one, you can do it in one of
the following ways:

 * If you already have a trusted version of GnuPG installed, you
   can simply check the supplied signature.  For example to check the
   signature of the file gnupg-1.4.8.tar.bz2 you would use this command:

     gpg --verify gnupg-1.4.8.tar.bz2.sig

   This checks whether the signature file matches the source file.
   You should see a message indicating that the signature is good and
   made by that signing key.  Make sure that you have the right key,
   either by checking the fingerprint of that key with other sources
   or by checking that the key has been signed by a trustworthy other
   key.  Note, that you can retrieve the signing key using the command

     finger wk ,at' g10code.com

   or using a keyserver like

     gpg --recv-key 1CE0C630

   The distribution key 1CE0C630 is signed by the well known key
   5B0358A2.  If you get an key expired message, you should retrieve a
   fresh copy as the expiration date might have been prolonged.

   NEVER USE A GNUPG VERSION YOU JUST DOWNLOADED TO CHECK THE
   INTEGRITY OF THE SOURCE - USE AN EXISTING GNUPG INSTALLATION!

 * If you are not able to use an old version of GnuPG, you have to verify
   the SHA-1 checksum.  Assuming you downloaded the file
   gnupg-1.4.8.tar.bz2, you would run the sha1sum command like this:

     sha1sum gnupg-1.4.8.tar.bz2

   and check that the output matches the second line from the
   following list:

29803a37645493104b239247505418f9c5bedd88  gnupg-1.4.8.tar.gz
4b63267358e5c70f05b48e27d6877bad2636cabd  gnupg-1.4.8.tar.bz2
e69d50a34c9f8d80aca366494228e2be0e8c641b  gnupg-1.4.7-1.4.8.diff.bz2
6ef3f9ba7a36ad1da53a02a8733bf77bc5305587  gnupg-w32cli-1.4.8.exe



What's New
===========

    * Changed the license to GPLv3.

    * Improved detection of keyrings specified multiple times.

    * Changes to better cope with broken keyservers.

    * Minor bug fixes.

    * The new OpenPGP standard is now complete, and has been published
      as RFC-4880.  The GnuPG --openpgp mode (note this is not the
      default) has been updated to match the new standard.  The
      --rfc2440 option can be used to return to the older RFC-2440
      behavior.  The main differences between the two are
      "--enable-dsa2 --no-rfc2440-text --escape-from-lines
      --require-cross-certification".

    * By default (i.e. --gnupg mode), --require-cross-certification is
      now on.  --rfc2440-text and --force-v3-sigs are now off.

    * Allow encryption using legacy Elgamal sign+encrypt keys if
      option --rfc2440 is used.

    * Fixed the auto creation of the key stub for smartcards.  

    * Fixed a rare bug in decryption using the OpenPGP card.

    * Fix RFC-4880 typo in the SHA-224 hash prefix.  Old SHA-224
      signatures will continue to work.



Internationalization
====================

GnuPG comes with support for 28 languages.  Due to a lot of new and
changed strings some translations are not entirely complete.  The
Chinese (Simple and Traditional), Czech, Dutch, French, German,
Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish
translations are close to be complete.


Support
=======

Improving GnuPG is costly, but you can help!  We are looking for
organizations that find GnuPG useful and wish to contribute back.  
You can contribute by reporting bugs, improve the software, order
extensions or support or more general by donating money to the Free
Software movement (e.g. http://www.fsfeurope.org/help/donate.en.html).

Commercial support contracts for GnuPG are available, and they help
finance continued maintenance.  g10 Code GmbH, a Duesseldorf based
company owned and headed by gpg's principal author, is currently
funding GnuPG development.  We are always looking for interesting
development projects.

A service directory is available at:

  http://www.gnupg.org/service.html


Thanks
======

We have to thank all the people who helped with this release, be it
testing, coding, translating, suggesting, auditing, administering the
servers, spreading the word or answering questions on the mailing
lists.  


Happy Hacking,

  The GnuPG Team (David, Werner and the other contributors)


-- 
Die Gedanken sind frei.  Auschnahme regelt ein Bundeschgesetz.
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