What kind of PGP key does ubuntu 2016 come with?

Question

I'm trying to write about this subject in my blog and I didn't find an answer to which PGP key does Ubuntu come with (PGP 4, 5, open?)?

It is already installed and the only thing that it says is that it is a GNU PGP key. Which leads me to believe I am using an open PGP version (right?).

But I am not entirely sure, any answer?

Answer 1

About your questions:

1. Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS comes with GNUPG (GNU Privacy Guard) and the specific version can be found in the list of packages per distro.

2. GnuPG is a complete and free implementation of the OpenPGP standard as defined by RFC4880 (also known as PGP). GnuPG allows you to encrypt and sign your data and communications; it features a versatile key management system, along with access modules for all kinds of public key directories. GnuPG, also known as GPG, is a command line tool with features for easy integration with other applications. A wealth of frontend applications and libraries are available. GnuPG also provides support for S/MIME and Secure Shell (ssh).

   This text was extracted from its official website.

3. You can verify your GNUPG version by introducing the following commands:

   apt policy gnupg gnupg2
   

   The output of the first command will contain something similar to this:

   gnupg:
     Installed: 1.4.20-1ubuntu3.1
     Candidate: 1.4.20-1ubuntu3.1
   gnupg2:
     Installed: 2.1.11-6ubuntu2
     Candidate: 2.1.11-6ubuntu2
   

   The 2nd way to get the version that you're using is with this command:

   gpg --version # or gpg2 --version for gpg2
   

   The output of this command will contain something similar to this:

   gpg (GnuPG) 1.4.20 <--[HERE IS THE VERSION].  
   Copyright (C) 2015 Free Software Foundation, Inc.