In message <9304040758.AA07164@tigger.cc.utexas.edu> you write:

This is even more dangerous than storing it on the disks of a multi-user machine. Unless you are running in a kerberos environment it is trivial to snoop your upload off the network, and even without that weakness you are exposing yourself to the same problem that the docs mention (it is really pretty easy to scan someone's terminal input) only you are giving them the key outright instead of only giving them the passphrase to your key.

Yeah.... So if your key can be snooped off the net, so can your cleartext. To decript online, then, is akin to using only weak encription...which indicates only the desire for limited privacy. But if even if you do decript online, you're still protected from file snooping. What's needed is PGP decription built into your terminal program. stig