why is SHA1 used? How do I get SHA256 to be used?

[Robert J. Hansen]

On 7/10/2012 10:39 AM, Laurent Jumet wrote:
> Do you succeed in having a SHA256 hash with this statement? How can I
> explain that I have RIPEMD160 instead?

I apologize for repeating myself here: I don't mean to be condescending,
but apparently my answer was not clear.  I'll try to be more clear.

You're using a DSA-1k key.

It's limited to 160 bits.  That means you cannot use SHA256.  The best
you can get is SHA256 truncated down to 160 bits, but at that point
there's no difference between SHA256 and RIPEMD160.  They both have the
exact same margin of security: there are no known attacks against either.