Why a subkey?

[Sven Radde]

Robert J. Hansen schrieb:
>> If so, why was (sign and encrypt) not offered as an option?
> 
> Having one key that can be used for both signing and encryption  
> operations is thought by some to be bad crypto policy.  The problems  
> with it appear to be mostly theoretical, though.

If you use "gpg --expert --gen-key", it will offer the selection:
 (7) RSA (set your own capabilities)
This lets you choose a key which can be used for signing and encrypting.

Anyway, if there's a question "Why a subkey?", its partner-question
would be: "Why not?"

cu, Sven