Symmetric encypher with private key decypher

[David Shaw]

On Sat, Jan 20, 2007 at 12:57:26PM -0800, Mikmorg wrote:
> 
> I am looking for a way to use symmetric encryption on a day-to-day basis,
> using a key-file of some sort to decypher the file. I have decided that
> using my asymmetric private key in the following way was the best for this,
> using the following method:
> 
> dd if=/dev/urandom bs=1024 count=1 | gpg -c --pasphrase-fd=0 -e -r mikmorg
> "$1"
> 
> Is there a better way to do the above? By better, I mean standard /
> portable. This is just an idea I threw together, and hope its the best. If
> anyone has any ideas for me, I would love to hear them.

Given the above syntax, how would you decrypt?  That is, how are you
saving a local copy of the key for later?

> Also, gpg wouldn't cut-out part of the stdin key from dd (expecting
> text-only), if it encountered an \r, \n, or \0 character, would it? If thats
> true, I definitely need to find another method.

It'll stop after \n.  You can pipe your random key through something
that will escape the \n character if you like.

David