[Grml] Missing mcrypt/mdecrypt

[Stefan Weiss]

vOn 11.07.2011 11:03, Ulrich Dangel wrote:
>   Please note that this package is buggy and unmaintained by
>   the upstream authors.  If you can, please look for other
>   implementations (openssl, gnutls, gnupg).

Good to know, thanks.

> Therefore i don't think it is worthwhile to ship mcrypt.
>
>>  I'm not set on using mcrypt; if there's a better way to do this, I'd be
>>  interested in that, too. I never store unencrypted data on portable
>>  devices (ever since I almost lost one), not even automated backups.
>
> Use openssl/gnupg/gnutls.

I understand that you don't want to include deprecated packages. 
Unfortunately, none of the mentioned alternatives are very useful for 
simple symmetric stream encryption. I suppose I could set up an 
assymetric scheme with private and public keys, but that feels like 
overkill for a dd backup.

I'll think of a different way to do the backups. Encrypting the whole 
external disk might be an option, perhaps with TrueCrypt for portability.

>>  But more generally, mcrypt/mdecrypt might come in handy in recovery
>>  situations, so it might make sense to include them anyway. Same goes for
>>  TrueCrypt, come to think of it.
>
> Truecrypt can not be shipped with Grml as it has a propertary license.

I see. That's even explained in the FAQ.

I'm going to try and add TrueCrypt to my Grml USB stick myself. Up until 
now, I've been a purely passive Grml user... I've never changed any of 
the defaults, apart from --bootoptions. I guess I could just store the 
.deb somewhere and install it when I need it. If there's a simple way to 
make the installation "stick", could you point me to the relevant part 
of the docs?

Thanks for your reply.


-- 
stefan