GPG signatures for source validation

[NicoHood]

As we all know, today more than ever before, it is crucial to be able to trust our computing environments. One of the main difficulties that package maintainers of GNU/Linux distributions face, is the difficulty to verify the authenticity and the integrity of the source code. With GPG signatures it is possible for packagers to verify source code releases quickly and easily.

Overview of the required tasks:

• Create and/or use a 4096-bit RSA keypair for the file signing
• Use a strong, unique, secret passphrase for the key
• Upload the public key to a key server and publish the full fingerprint
• Sign every new Git commit and tag
• Create signed, compressed (xz --best) release archives
• Upload a strong message digest (sha512) of the archive
• Configure HTTPS for your download server

GPGit

GPGit is meant to bring GPG to the masses. It is not only a Python script that automates the process of creating new signed Git releases with GPG, but also a quick-start-guide for learning how to use GPG. GPGit integrates perfectly with the Github Release API for uploading.

The security status of GNU/Linux projects will be tracked in the Linux Security Database. If you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact me personally. Thanks for your help in making GNU/Linux projects more secure by using GPG signatures.

Thanks in advance.