[pkg-gnupg-maint] Bug#868437: Bug#868437: gnupg: does not work after installation

[Daniel Kahn Gillmor]

On Sat 2017-07-15 15:54:54 +0300, Teemu Likonen wrote:
> Axel Stammler [2017-07-15 14:23:48+02] wrote:
>
>> after installation, any call to GPG, e.g.
>>
>>    gpg --search Stammler
>>
>> invariably produces the following messages:
>>
>> gpg: failed to start the dirmngr '/usr/bin/dirmngr': No such file or directory
>> gpg: connecting dirmngr at '/run/user/1001/gnupg/S.dirmngr' failed: No such file or directory
>> gpg: error searching keyserver: No dirmngr
>> gpg: keyserver search failed: No dirmngr
>
> The error message says that /usr/bin/dirmngr is missing. Install package
> named dirmngr and your original command will work.
>
>     apt install dirmngr
>
> The gnupg package recommends dirmngr but I don't know why it's not part
> of the default installation.

It *is* part of the default installation, since Recommends are installed
by default.  However, /usr/bin/gpg is usable for encryption, decryption,
signing, and verification without communicating with the network.
dirmngr is the component of the GnuPG suite which communicates with the
network, but it also pulls in more dependencies that some users might
not want, so it's possible to install gpg without it.

Anyway, i'm closing this bug report because it's currently behaving as
expected.

fwiw, I'm planning a reorganization of the GnuPG binary packages that
will eventually make dirmngr a full Dependency of the "gnupg" binary
package, but will still allow an admin who wants the most minimal
installation (without secret key support, without network access) to
install a narrowly-scoped "gpg" package.

        --dkg
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