The problem with the alternatives is they are product specific and baked into that product. I need a tool that is a separate layer that I can pipe into whatever product I want, be it files, email, chat, etc. Managing one set of identities is hard enough thank you very much and I also want to be able to switch the communication medium as needed.

I use gnupg a lot and I'm certainly not very happy with it but I guess it's the same as with democracy: the worst system except for the all the others.