when i compared the imported pgp public key block (which I obtained
using the import command and the provided fingerprint) to the
displated pgp public key block, they didn't match
shouldn't they match?
No.
The key block is not a human-readable format. It's a binary format
that's meant to be read by computers.
Imagine a word processing document. You open up a blank document and
type "Hello, World!". You save that as document-1. Then you think
about it, erase your text, write something else, delete that, too, and
after some more hemming and hawing you go back to "Hello, World!". You
save this as document-2.
Now open up document-1 and document-2 in a hex editor. Despite the fact
they have exactly the same *human-meaningful* information, the two
documents will look different to a computer. Things like a timestamp
for when it was last edited, things like a revision history, things
like... etc.
For all human purposes, document-1 and document-2 are the same. But
they're different on disk, and that's okay.
The exact same thing happens with OpenPGP certificates. When you import
the certificate, GnuPG starts tracking other information -- the same way
the word processor does. But that doesn't mean the certificate is
*different*, really, not in any way you care about.
Hope this helps!
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