Secure apt

| I am trying to add Michael Rutter's ppa to my
| repository.? I cannot do this from the command
| line.? I think I may be behind a firewall so copying
| the key to a text file is my best option.? When I
| search for the key at 
| 
| http://keyserver.ubuntu.com:11371/
| 
| the search fails.  Tried typing and 
| cutting and pasting E084DAB9 into 
| the search box without success.  How 
| can I get the key?

By reading up on the underlying 'web of trust' initially built around PGP,
and later GPG which is used here too.  The idiomatic approach is to do a 
'gpg --search ....' where you also need to specify a server:

  edd at max:~$ gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --search-key E084DAB9 
  gpg: searching for "E084DAB9" from hkp server pgp.mit.edu
  (1)     Michael Rutter <marutter at gmail.com>
            2048 bit RSA key E084DAB9, created: 2010-10-19
  Keys 1-1 of 1 for "E084DAB9".  Enter number(s), N)ext, or Q)uit > n
  Enter number(s), N)ext, or Q)uit > 1
  gpg: requesting key E084DAB9 from hkp server pgp.mit.edu
  gpg: key E084DAB9: public key "Michael Rutter <marutter at gmail.com>" imported
  gpg: Total number processed: 1
  gpg:               imported: 1  (RSA: 1)
  edd at max:~$ 


Dirk

"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it is too
dark to read." -- Groucho Marx