GnuPG-aware GUI to encrypt/decrypt PGP ASCII on Linux

Question

I am looking for a Linux GUI program to encrypt/decrypt shorts texts as ASCII.

Ideally it would be a text area where I could paste text then encrypt or decrypt.

It should be able to sign and check signatures too.

Requirements:

• Produces ASCII (not binary)
• Open source
• Runs on Linux (Java is OK)
• Finds my keys in ~/.gnupg

What I tried:

• Seahorse is rather close, but it forces me to save my text as a file, and it generates binary instead of ASCII.
• Command-line can do this, but it is too cumbersome for quickly copy/pasting text.

Answer 1

pyrite

As far as I know, there's only one app out there that meets all of your criteria. All of your requirements (reproduced below) describe pyrite, though it can do more.

• "text area where I could paste text then encrypt or decrypt"
• "should be able to sign and check signatures"
• "Produces ASCII" (pyrite can do both)
• "Open source" (GPLv3)
• "Runs on Linux" (pyrite is implemented solely in python via pygtk)
• "Finds my keys in ~/.gnupg" (pyrite doesn't try to handle keys; it just acts as a frontend for gpg, so your keys and local configuration will be used)

Full disclosure: I'm the creator of pyrite and, as of now, the only developer.

Answer 2

If the missing ASCII-armored output is your main objective regarding Seahorse, it can be configured to produce ASCII-armored output. The configuration option is not available in the GUI, so you need to change seahorse-settings in gconf.

There is a bunch of configuration options available, the setting of interest is

/schemas/desktop/pgp/ascii_armor

which you need to enable.

How to use gconf is out of scope for this answer, so I refer to "How do I use the gconf editor?".

Answer 3

pyrite (already cited) and gpg4usb (https://www.gnupg.org) have the requested features: direct copy/paste and processing of text (on a text-editor like window without the need to actually saving the plain and encrypted messages) + ASCII output + open source + runs on Linux + uses ~/.gnupg GPG key info (both let you choose which key to use). Here is the official list of GPG graphical front-ends: https://www.gnupg.org/related_software/frontends.html. From this list I do not know other tools with such features. Seahorse and GPA are standard/common for GTK/Gnome/Ubuntu/Fedora but lack the requested features. I like gpg4usb better, it is simpler and more straight forward to use, have a nicer and clean visual and do not require installation (it is a portable app). On the other hand Pyrite is more advanced with fine granularity and the possibility to follow and tune the gpg command line and output, using gpg2 as engine, enabling you to even use symmetric encryption or using OpenSSL engine for symmetric encryption. Both gpg4usb and pyrite do the requested job, choose the one that best fits your taste!