sparc32 & gnupg speed problems?

[Lars Hecking]

Chris Ruffin writes:
> 
> Hello, I'm using gnupg on both sparc32 and linux platforms.  I've
> noticed a tremendous speed difference between the two platforms, and
> was wondering if there was something I was doing wrong.  Signing an
> e-mail message with gnupg on a sparc workstation (ultra 1) takes about
> 20 seconds, while my trusty 486/50 MHz Linux machine signs the same
> message (using the same key) in about a second flat.  I compiled gnupg
> for sparc myself using:
> 
> ./configure --disable-nls --disable-dev-random --prefix=$HOME
> 
> The linux gnupg was installed from the standard debian package.
> 
> Is anyone aware of any speed related issues with sparc32?

 You are using the standard Unix random gatherer? The section near the top of
 gpg's install file states:

...
--enable-static-rnd=<name>  Force the use of the random byte gathering
                     module <name>.  Default is either to use /dev/random
                     or the standard Unix module.  Value for name:
...
                      unix - Use the standard Unix module which does not
                             have a very good performance.
...

 You should go and try egd, that what I use here on Solaris.