QUESTION:

I have downloaded both Jack B. Nymble and PGP 5.0. I tried to follow all of the directions but couldn't find PGP's "config.txt" file.

I found a page on the web which gave me step by step instructions on setting up a nym account using Jack B Nymble. When it got to the part about setting up a PGP key from within JBN, however, the computer started running something within a DOS shell and then I got a "File not found" error. I then realized that for some reason PGP had extracted itself to C:\Program Files\PGP, so I changed all of these files over to C:\PGP and changed all the pointers (I hope) to this directory. Still no good. So I'm stuck.

ANSWER:

The biggest problem with people trying to get PGP and JBN and Potato (and Private Idaho and John Doe for that matter) to work is that no one has any idea what these programs are supposed to do. They will, more or less, allow you to do whatever you want, to use any of the options available with the current remailers/nymservers - but you have to know about these options, and why you might choose to use or not use them. So what I really need to do is talk about WHAT people want to do, rather than HOW.

First thing, PGP is an encryption program that is written for UNIX, Mac, DOS, and other operating systems. You tell it what to do with commands. Like DOS. There are no menus, no choices. You need to know what you want it to do, and what command will make it do that.

The current versions of PGP are 2.6.x (2.6.something). It really is a pain to use PGP with Windows. Windows is a point-and-click environment, not well suited to giving a program instructions on the same command line that you use to run the program. There are many shells written to help you use PGP. You point and click, and the shell does all the hard (if you don't know the commands) work. One of these shells is called PGP 5.x

Maybe I am exagerating a bit here. PGP 5.x includes a couple of changes, either improvements or adjustments to improve the author's legal position in a bunch of lawsuits he has encountered. And it does not, like the other shells, use plain-old 2.6.x as a sister program. It actually has all the guts of 2.6.x (unchanged) inside of it. But we ought to consider it a shell program nonetheless.

The remailers and nymservers DO NOT use PGP 5.x. They use PGP 2.6.x. Potato and JBN and PI all must use 2.6.x. All these programs must give instructions to PGP on the command line, and this is not possible with 5.x (progress?)

Forthermore, the keys used by remailers and nymservers are "RSA" keys. While the $$$ PGP 5.5 (or whatever) (Personal Privacy for Businesses) can create RSA keys, the free PGP 5.0 can not. New with version 5 is the use of "Diffie-Hillman" keys. Since they can be larger than the RSA keys, they are more resistant to being cracked (all keys are very safe anyway, taking years, or hundreds of years, of trial and error to crack). They also let the author off a legal perch that he got himself on. Now the free PGP 5.0 can use RSA keys, but it cannot create them. PGP 5.5 ($$$) can create and use them. PGP 2.6.x can create and use them. Remailers and nymservers use only RSA keys.

You could download 2.6.x just to create yourself a key, or you could have a trusted friend create one for you (does not have to be too trusted, since he would not be receiving your mail anyway, the fact the he could decrypt it is of no real concern). Or you could buy 5.5.

But, if you want to use any of the anonymity software (JBN, etc) they require PGP 2.6.x to be right there, and they work closely with it. So you need JBN and PGP 2.6.x. Chances are you will never need to encrypt a message, then send it to a friend by regular e-mail channels, so PGP 5.0 is not of much use to you. You will not be sending messages using just regular e-mail channels anymore. Besides, that would provide privacy (of message content) but not anonymity (of sender or recipient).

Now the big disclaimer:
I can't help you with Windows programs. I do not understand Windows programming (who really does?). I run Windows only when I must. My old computer cannot run Windows 95. I cannot run any version of Navigator or Explorer. Sorry. Too bad. Good luck.

The best of the Windows programs is Jack B. Nymble. The author is RProcess and he has just taken a little vacation from his programming efforts for awhile. He leaves us with new, well-tested updates for both Potato and JBN. I know that he will return, but he works so very hard on this. He is a first-rate programmer, devoting so much energy to these programs. We just have to get this done without his help. There are others who understand the installation and file-handling details of JBN pretty well, and I may be able to get help, but it may not be quick.

My favorite program is Potato, but I have strange tastes. Potato can be run on any IBM-style (not Mac or UNIX) computer. It is written for DOS, so it can be run in a DOS window from any Windows operating system. I understand it, have access to the source code, and have produced a few modifications to it for my own personal use, and for others. A few of the current improvements were originally coded into my experimental versions, and later got the attention of RProcess. It can run on smaller computers and in conjunction with DOS-based e-mail clients and browsers (as used on old computers and many palmtops).

It has no menus, does not use a mouse, but is much more flexible than the programs that came before it. The up side of versatility is that it will do anything you want it to. The down side is that you must know what you want it to do. It has only one screen, with over 40 boxes that you may fill in or leave blank. You can create a screen with all of your favorite settings so everyday use is very simple. It's companion program, Decrypt, is included both with Potato and JBN, and is the same for either. I have also made several changes to it for my own personal use.

I can not recommend Potato for anyone who really prefers a point-and-click environment. I have done so in the past and failed. There is no way to get these folks to return to using a keyboard :-)

JBN is a direct outgrowth of Potato, and the logic is the same. The file handling required for Win95 is much different, however. I can help anyone to get Potato up and running, every step of the way, diagnose and solve every problem. At least I have been able to so far. With JBN I can only offer a few feeble guesses as to where to look. After that you are on your own.

The hardest problem that people seem to encounter for software like this, intended to run on many different systems, is telling everything where to find everything else. The anonymity shell must coordinate with PGP 2.6.x, with the broswer's e-mail client, perhaps with your word processor/text editor, perhaps with your file wipe program, etc. "File not found" is a very common phrase.

Let's get PGP 2.6.x installed, and see what happens then.