what are the sub keys

David Shaw dshaw at jabberwocky.com
Sun Mar 20 03:36:29 CET 2011


On Mar 19, 2011, at 10:26 PM, Mike Acker wrote:

> what are the 'sub keys' that are listed with each RSA key?  Also which
> type of key is preferred RSA or DSA?

OpenPGP keys are made up of a single primary key, and any number of subkeys (including, in some cases zero).  This allows the user to pick particular key types for particular purposes.  For example, a common usage is to use the primary key for signing things and the subkey for encrypting things.

As to your other question, it was asked earlier this week.  See http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/gnupg/users/53692

David




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