[Fsfe-uk] Key signing at AFFS conference

[Chris Croughton]

Better late than never...

Those who have been to keysignings before probably know this, but...

Information, in case it wasn't clear elsewhere, on what to bring for GPG
key signing.  As well as photo ID (passport, driving licence, etc.), you
need to bring copies of your key fingerprint in hard copy to give to
people so they can go home and sign the keys.  The easy way to do this
is to do

  gpg --fingerprint key

(key being whatever identifies your key(s) -- hex number, name, etc.).
Take the first two lines of the GPG keys (which will have ID something
like 1024D/DEADBEEF -- ignore uid and sub lines, they aren't necessary
to identify the key and don't get individually signed):

pub  1024D/kkkkkkkk 2004-05-12 John Doe <address@hidden>
     Key fingerprint = xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx  xxxx xxxx xxxx kkkk kkkk

Add a line of dashes or similar to facilitate cutting, then duplicate
those, to get something like:

...

pub  1024D/kkkkkkkk 2004-05-12 John Doe <address@hidden>
     Key fingerprint = xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx  xxxx xxxx xxxx kkkk kkkk

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

pub  1024D/kkkkkkkk 2004-05-12 John Doe <address@hidden>
     Key fingerprint = xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx  xxxx xxxx xxxx kkkk kkkk

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

pub  1024D/kkkkkkkk 2004-05-12 John Doe <address@hidden>
     Key fingerprint = xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx  xxxx xxxx xxxx kkkk kkkk

...


to fill an A4 sheet (probably 60 printed lines, you can trim the bottom
lines of dashes and blank lines).  If you have more keys, you'll get
fewer copies per sheet (duh!).

Print that out as many times as seems reasonable (I reckon 30 total will be
enough, so 3 sheets if there's only one key), do it with no headers or
frame to save paper (I use a2ps -1 -B --borders=0).  Cut that into strips
(horizontally, between the sets of keys!) and bring those.

Note that since it is only the key size, type and ID which are crucial
you could trim the lines to fit if necessary (the name and email aren't
needed since they will come with the key from a keyserver anyway).

Oh, make sure that your public keys are uploaded to the keyservers.  I
usually use pgp.mit.edu, which propagates to most others (www.pgp.net
will connect you to a 'random' one).  People won't be able to get your
key for signing unless it's on a server...

Unfortunately, we have no idea of how many people will be doing this,
I'm printing out 3 sheets of mine which will give 36 copies (I have
only one key there and my name/address fits on the line).

See you there.  I'll be easy to identify -- I have a beard and glasses
and wear black <g>...

Chris C