Mailing List Archive: RSA & IDEA

RSA & IDEA

Jan 22, 1999, 4:31 PM

Post #1 of 8 (394 views)

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In theory, the following patch would make installation of RSA and IDEA
simpler. For RSA, it works to just copy rsa.c to the cipher directory
before ./configure-ing.

It could be made better two different ways:

+ make all add-on modules have some lines specially marked (like
rsa.c has a tab in front of the gcc line) OR

+ simply have the same compile line for all modules.

The best would probably be some `Makefile:' line(s) in the .c file,
which configure.in could stuff verbatim into an autoconf
substitution... which would get inserted into the Makefile.

What do y'all think?

Bye, J

Index: configure.in
===================================================================
RCS file: /home/koch/cvs/gnupg/configure.in,v
retrieving revision 1.69
diff -u -r1.69 configure.in
- --- configure.in 1999/01/21 05:25:11 1.69
+++ configure.in 1999/01/22 23:19:05
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
dnl (Process this file with autoconf to produce a configure script.)
AC_REVISION($Revision: 1.69 $)dnl

- -dnl Must reset CDPATH so that bash's cd does not print to stdout
+dnl #Must reset CDPATH so that bash's cd does not print to stdout
CDPATH=

AC_INIT(g10/g10.c)
@@ -195,6 +195,30 @@
AM_CONDITIONAL(ENABLE_GNUPG_EXTENSIONS, test "$use_gnupg_extensions" = yes )
AC_SUBST(DYNLINK_LDFLAGS)
AC_SUBST(DYNLINK_MOD_CFLAGS)
+
+if test "$use_gnupg_extensions" = "yes"; then
+ AC_MSG_CHECKING(for presence of RSA module)
+ if test -f cipher/rsa.c; then
+ RSA=rsa
+ AC_MSG_RESULT(present)
+ else
+ RSA=
+ AC_MSG_RESULT(not present)
+ fi
+
+ AC_SUBST(RSA)
+
+ AC_MSG_CHECKING(for presence of IDEA module)
+ if test -f cipher/idea.c; then
+ IDEA=idea
+ AC_MSG_RESULT(present)
+ else
+ IDEA=
+ AC_MSG_RESULT(not present)
+ fi
+
+ AC_SUBST(IDEA)
+fi

dnl Checks for header files.
Index: cipher/Makefile.am
===================================================================
RCS file: /home/koch/cvs/gnupg/cipher/Makefile.am,v
retrieving revision 1.39
diff -u -r1.39 Makefile.am
- --- Makefile.am 1999/01/09 15:06:46 1.39
+++ Makefile.am 1999/01/22 23:19:06
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@

EXTRA_PROGRAMS = tiger twofish rndunix rndlinux
if ENABLE_GNUPG_EXTENSIONS
- -pkglib_PROGRAMS = @DYNAMIC_CIPHER_MODS@ @DYNAMIC_RANDOM_MODS@
+pkglib_PROGRAMS = @DYNAMIC_CIPHER_MODS@ @DYNAMIC_RANDOM_MODS@ @RSA@ @IDEA@
else
pkglib_PROGRAMS =
endif
@@ -59,6 +59,11 @@
`echo $(COMPILE) $(DYNLINK_MOD_CFLAGS) -o twofish $(srcdir)/twofish.c | \
sed -e 's/-O[0-9]*/ /' `

+rsa: $(srcdir)/rsa.c
+ `grep '^ ' rsa.c | head -1`
+
+idea: $(srcdir)/idea.c
+ `grep '^ ' idea.c | head -1`

rndunix: $(srcdir)/rndunix.c
$(COMPILE) $(DYNLINK_MOD_CFLAGS) -o rndunix $(srcdir)/rndunix.c

- --
Jürgen A. Erhard eMail: jae@ilk.de phone: (GERMANY) 0721 27326
My WebHome: http://members.tripod.com/~Juergen_Erhard
GTK - Free X Toolkit (http://www.gtk.org)
"No matter how cynical I get, I can't keep up." -- Bruce Schneier
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Re: RSA & IDEA [ In reply to ]

jae at ilk

Jan 22, 1999, 6:08 PM

Post #2 of 8 (383 views)

Permalink

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>>>>> "Rat" == Stainless Steel Rat <ratinox@peorth.gweep.net> writes:

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Rat> "JAE" == Juergen A Erhard <jae@ilk.de> writes:

JAE> In theory, the following patch would make installation of RSA and IDEA
JAE> simpler.

Rat> There is a big problem with this: it specifically caters to proprietary
Rat> software, which is a big no-no as far as the FSF is concerned.

I regard idea.c and rsa.c as free... there's a recurring discussion on
debian-devel whether stuff in `non-us' (cannot be distributed from a
server located in the US) is a part of Debian (should be in `main') or
not.

For me, apparently, anything that satisfies the DFSG is free,
regardless whether the piece of code falls under ITAR/Wassenaar or
not. (If it weren't free in that sense, Werner probably wouldn't put
it on the gpg ftp server...)

If everybody'd follow your reasoning, there would, for example, be no
PGP in any free software. (Or no GIF plug-in for GIMP... oops, there
are no GIFs on www.gnu.org, so you're probably right about
RMS^H^H^Hthe FSF's stance).

Anyway,

Bye, J

PS: Lest anyone think me a software `hoarder': I agree with RMS in
almost all points regarding free software philosophy... so some
BSD-heads will probably like to lynch me now ;-)

- --
Jürgen A. Erhard eMail: jae@ilk.de phone: (GERMANY) 0721 27326
My WebHome: http://members.tripod.com/~Juergen_Erhard
"Outside of a dog, a man's best friend is a book;
inside of a dog, it's very dark." -- Groucho Marx
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Re: RSA & IDEA [ In reply to ]

bem at cmc

Jan 22, 1999, 9:13 PM

Post #3 of 8 (386 views)

Permalink

On Fri, Jan 22, 1999 at 08:57:45PM -0500, Stainless Steel Rat wrote:
> "JAE" == Juergen A Erhard <jae@ilk.de> writes:
>
> JAE> I regard idea.c and rsa.c as free...
>
> IDEA's use and distribution are restricted by Ascom Systec, Limited. RSA's
> use and distribution are restricted by RSADSI. Commercial use of either
> requires a license from Ascom Systec, Ltd. and RSADSI respectively. The
> licenses for both are much more restrictive than the GPL.
>
> They are anything but free in the eyes of the FSF.

And IDEA's restrictions are worldwide.

They are certainly less anal about things than RSADSI, but their license
is still a no-go with Free Software¹. To quote: "whenever you or your
company sells any products including the IDEA algorithm ... it needs a
license granted by Ascom". That would include even Debian CD's sold in
Europe. (That's why Werner's got it away from the proper distribution:
he's not selling it, so he's okay. But it shouldn't be distributed for
a fee at all.) The wrong meaning of 'Free Software', since it's not
about freedom, but price.

(The legalese is at http://www.ascom.ch/infosec/idea/policy.html if you
want to read it. It's actually quite clear for legalese, and there's no
way it would work with Free Software.)

Come Sept 20 2000, rsa.c should go into the release (when the "you can
only use our code in the US" rules go away). IDEA expires in
2010-2011 (and possibly much later in Japan). At that point, 128 bit
ciphers will be a relic as the AES winner should be well entrenched.

¹ Yes, I probably should say 'Open Source', but I hate that term and
agree with RMS on most things, so I make sure I capitalize things to
make it clear. :)

--
Brian Moore | "The Zen nature of a spammer resembles
Sysadmin, C/Perl Hacker | a cockroach, except that the cockroach
Usenet Vandal | is higher up on the evolutionary chain."
Netscum, Bane of Elves. Peter Olson, Delphi Postmaster

Re: RSA & IDEA [ In reply to ]

wk at isil

Jan 23, 1999, 3:22 AM

Post #4 of 8 (383 views)

Permalink

"Juergen A. Erhard" <jae@ilk.de> writes:

> In theory, the following patch would make installation of RSA and IDEA
> simpler. For RSA, it works to just copy rsa.c to the cipher directory
> before ./configure-ing.

I used to have this kind of stuff in the configure script - but I
removed it. I don't want to help RSA Inc. to promote their stuff and
RSA has a lot of problems it is simply not the best algorithm anymore.

Please create a DSA and ElGamal key - they are much nicer and we can
get rid of the RSA stuff - please.

Werner

Re: RSA & IDEA [ In reply to ]

smurf at noris

Jan 23, 1999, 4:32 AM

Post #5 of 8 (387 views)

Permalink

Hi,

Werner Koch:
> Please create a DSA and ElGamal key - they are much nicer and we can
> get rid of the RSA stuff - please.
>
You might be right from the technical POV, but people who need to verify
(let alone create) NOCEM messages for Usenet are in a different situation.

Would it be acceptable to have a generic "--with-addons=xxx" option in
configure?

--
Matthias Urlichs | noris network GmbH | smurf@noris.de | ICQ: 20193661
The quote was selected randomly. Really. | http://www.noris.de/~smurf/
--
As charity covers a multitude of sins before God, so does politeness
before men.
-- Chesterfield

Re: RSA & IDEA [ In reply to ]

wk at isil

Jan 23, 1999, 5:46 AM

Post #6 of 8 (386 views)

Permalink

Matthias Urlichs <smurf@noris.de> writes:

> You might be right from the technical POV, but people who need to verify
> (let alone create) NOCEM messages for Usenet are in a different situation.

People - outside the U.S - who need to do this should be able to do
a
`grep gcc rsa.c` && install rsa /usr/local/lib/gnupg/rsa

Werner

Re: RSA & IDEA [ In reply to ]

ralf.stephan at fitug

Jan 23, 1999, 9:39 AM

Post #7 of 8 (383 views)

Permalink

Werner:
> RSA has a lot of problems it is simply not the best algorithm anymore.
>...
> get rid of the RSA stuff - please.

Do you have references? Inquiring minds want to know...

Thanks for helping a newbie,
ralf
--
Sound experiments - how to set up a random church clock:
http://www.tmt.de/~stephan/clock.html

Re: RSA & IDEA [ In reply to ]

wk at isil

Jan 24, 1999, 5:26 AM

Post #8 of 8 (384 views)

Permalink

ralf.stephan@fitug.de writes:

> > RSA has a lot of problems it is simply not the best algorithm anymore.
>
> Do you have references? Inquiring minds want to know...

If you follow the crypto literature you may have noticed some flaws or
have a look into the HOAC.

To make it clear: I didn't say that RSA is bad or has serious flaws
but DLP (DSA, ElGamal etc.) algorithms are at least as good.

Werner