Timing test of GnuPG and old PGP

[rhkelly]

Johan Wevers wrote:

> Newton Hammet wrote:

>>>>PGP 2.6.2:       74 seconds
>>>>GPG 1.0.6-2:     26 seconds

>>>Try pgp 2.6.3ia. 2.6.2 was a US version that used an 
 >>>inefficient RSA library due to patent isues.
> 
>>I believe there should be no patent issues with RSA.  
 >>Its patent expired on September 20, 2000.
> 
> That's true now, but not when pgp 2.6.x came out...

In any case, isn't it unlikely that RSA implementation
would make any difference when PGP/GPG is used as a file
encryptor? I assume that in such case the passphrase is
hashed into the symetric cipher key (IDEA(?) for PGP 262,
AES(?) for GPG), and the file is encrypted without any
RSA function ever used. (Even if I was wrong, for a very
large file, the time required will depend almost entirely
on the speed of the symetric cipher used).

 > ...my copies of the pgp 2.6.3ia source are from 1998.
Is 2.6.3ia the same as 2.6.3i? If not, is ..ia source
available on the web? TIA,


Roger