What should '--local-user' mean when multiple secret keys match?

Andrew Gallagher andrewg at andrewg.com
Tue Jan 29 11:45:06 CET 2019


On 28/01/2019 23:14, Daniel Kahn Gillmor wrote:
> So, how could GnuPG make this decision more correctly and safely by
> default for normal users who want to transition in an orderly fashion to
> a new key?  A couple ideas:
> 
>  * sign with the most recently-created key available.  (does this mean
>    we're looking at the age of the primary, or of the subkey?)

I think "Most recent valid subkey of the most recent valid primary key"
is a sensible default. "Most recent valid subkey no matter how old the
primary is" would be the other option, but I can't imagine a use case
where it would be preferable.

>  * provide explicit prioritization mechanisms between these keys that
>    are easy to use and easy to revert

This would be useful for advanced users, but probably overkill for most.

>  * allow locally disabling subkeys independently from primary keys, or
>    even disabling key usage flags on the primary key.

Changing the usage flags on the primary has been a longstanding feature
request, but if your first two suggestions were implemented it wouldn't
be necessary for this use case.

-- 
Andrew Gallagher

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