X-Git-Url: http://git.chise.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=README;h=30f6f0102526367247b7ec6f054b4d99d834eff4;hb=c3f7df32c68315e9c66b2a9a0f3e181771c79890;hp=ca53e4af93a09e23e8963d8841ef5f0daac3a362;hpb=2686e015c9a74089405b8a5198d8db9b381e70e2;p=elisp%2Fepg.git diff --git a/README b/README index ca53e4a..30f6f01 100644 --- a/README +++ b/README @@ -1,64 +1,97 @@ * What's this? -EasyPG is yet another GnuPG interface for Emacs. It consists of three -parts: transparent file encryption utility, Gnus/PGG backend, and -elisp library to interact with GnuPG. +EasyPG is a GnuPG interface for Emacs. It has two aspects: convenient +tools which allow to use GnuPG from Emacs (EasyPG Assistant), and a +fully functional interface library to GnuPG (EasyPG Library.) * Requirements -** GNU Emacs 21.4 or later +** GNU Emacs 21.4 or XEmacs 21.4 -** XEmacs 21.4 or later +** GnuPG 1.4.3 -** GnuPG 1.4.3 or later +* Quick start -** Gnus 5.10.8 or later (optional) +** Installation -* Quick start + $ ./configure + $ sudo make install + +Add the following line to your ~/.emacs + + (require 'epa-setup) + +Then you can browse your keyring by `M-x epa-list-keys'. In addition, +you can do some cryptographic operations on dired. + + M-x dired + (mark some files) + : e (or M-x epa-dired-do-encrypt) + (select recipients by 'm' and click [OK]) + +* MUA Integration + +The EasyPG Library can be used in combination with various MUA (Mail +User Agents.) + +** CVS version of Gnus + +CVS version of Gnus supports EasyPG natively, simply put the following +line into your ~/.emacs. + + (setq mml2015-use 'epg) + +Other options which affect on the binding are + + mml2015-signers + mml2015-encrypt-to-self + mml2015-cache-passphrase + mml2015-passphrase-cache-expiry + mml2015-verbose + +NOTE: You need not to install pgg-epg.el in this case. -** Transparent file encryption utility +** PGG based MUA -EasyPG provides transparent file encryption utility similar to -crypt++, alpaca.el, hedgehog. To try this feature, add the following line to your ~/.emacs and C-x C-f ~/test.txt.gpg. +PGG is somewhat outdated PGP library used by old Gnus, MH-E, etc. -(require 'epg-file) +There is a PGG backend using EasyPG called pgg-epg.el. However, +EasyPG API is a superset of PGG, so pgg-epg.el just emulates the old +behavior of pgg.el. Major features which PGG lacks are -** Gnus/PGG backend +- Key selection user interface +- Diagnosis interface to the verify operation +- Web of trust +- S/MIME using gpgsm -EasyPG provides an implementation of the backend interface of -Gnus/PGG. To use EasyPG instead of pgg-gpg, install pgg-epg.el and -add the following line to your ~/.gnus. +** SEMI based MUA -(setq pgg-scheme 'epg) +SEMI is the MIME library used by Wanderlust, cmail, T-gnus, etc. -* Advantages over other competitors +There is an EasyPG capable SEMI library called EMIKO-EasyPG. It can +be downloaded from the same site of the EasyPG distribution point. -There are many competitors of EasyPG such as Mailcrypt, PGG, gpg.el, -etc. EasyPG has some advantages over them. +* Security -** EasyPG avoides potential security flaws of Emacs. +There are security pitfalls around Emacs. -*** `call-process-region' writes data in region to temporary files. +** Passphrase may leak to a temporary file. -`call-process-region' writes data in region to temporary files. PGG -and gpg.el use `call-process-region' to communicate with a gpg -subprocess. Your passphrases leak to the filesystem! +The function call-process-region writes data in region to a temporary +file. If your PGP library used this function, your passphrases would +leak to the filesystem. -*** There is no way to clear strings safely. +The EasyPG Library does not use call-process-region to communicate +with a gpg subprocess. -If Emacs crashed and dumps core, passphrase strings in memory are also -dumped within the core file. `read-passwd' function clears passphrase -strings by `(fillarray string 0)'. However, Emacs performs compaction -in gc_sweep phase. If GC happens before `fillarray', passphrase -strings may be moved elsewhere in memory. It is recommended that as -soon as you are done with passphrase you should clear it manually. -However, PGG and gpg.el can keep passphrase strings in cache for a -while and this behavior is their default! +** Passphrase may be stolen from a core file. -** GnuPG features are directly accessible from Emacs +If Emacs crashes and dumps core, Lisp strings in memory are also +dumped within the core file. read-passwd function clears passphrase +strings by (fillarray string 0) to avoid this risk. However, Emacs +performs compaction in gc_sweep phase. If GC happens before fillarray, +passphrase strings may be moved elsewhere in memory. Therefore, +passphrase caching in elisp is generally a bad idea. -Other competitors provide only specific features of GnuPG since they -still support PGP 2.*, 5.*, 6.*. As the name indicates, EasyPG is -inspired by GPGME (GnuPG Made Easy), and the library interface is -close to GPGME. With EasyPG you can benefit from a lot of features of -GnuPG. +The EasyPG Library dares to disable passphrase caching. Fortunately, +there is more secure way to cache passphrases - use gpg-agent.