Attn: Iain Learmonth irl@torproject.org
Thank you for your thoughtful response. Perhaps this was the wrong mailing list in some ways.
Backing up on Iain's email conversation, I have always built my desktop computers from scratch. Salvaged hardware and researched drivers, etc. There is nothing pre-installed. (My colleagues affectionately call me the Queen of Setup and Config.") By design. I have an OEM version of XP that I put on initially, but that is only the start. Since xp is not locked down like Windows 7 and beyond, I then reconfigure so much! You would be right in assuming that a standard xp install is a security risk. But I am constantly tracing packets, studying the traffic at the back end to see where the leaks are. Then I figure out what I can do to plug / understand the leaks. Partly therefore, xp is a learning / testing tool.
I use xp for basic apps. But I would sooner drink lye than use Windows 7 and beyond. Therefore, as you already suggested, I did have a dual boot with a Parrot distribution. That is, until my sata drive died. Upon purchase, I will return to the dual boot or to two machines. So therefore, I am back to xp for the time being. Until such time as I have the dual/two machine option again, I surely would like to be able to update as much of Tor as I can. (I know that you are serving the masses and not an individual person).
Anyhow, I love Tor and I love having kindred spirits that 'get' security. Thank you for what you are doing.
~Emily
On Tue, Feb 19, 2019, at 12:00 PM, tor-dev-request@lists.torproject.org wrote:
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Today's Topics:
- Re: xp + T (Iain Learmonth)
- Sending multiple streams throuh a single Tor circuit (Piyush Kumar Sharma)
- Re: Sending multiple streams throuh a single Tor circuit (meejah)
Message: 1 Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2019 14:32:11 +0000 From: Iain Learmonth irl@torproject.org To: tor-dev@lists.torproject.org Subject: Re: [tor-dev] xp + T Message-ID: 4b405fbe-6130-ef98-1a8d-74bcacc8bc5f@torproject.org Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Hi,
On 13/02/2019 16:56, neel@neelc.org wrote:
I don't think this is the right mailing list.
This is entirely the correct mailing list as it is discussing a technical policy of the network team. This policy can be found here:
https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/org/teams/NetworkTeam/Supporte...
You probably shouldn't be using Windows XP, otherwise the EOL'd OS would be a weak point in security. One option could be to dual-boot Windows XP and Linux/*BSD, using Linux/*BSD for Tor and browsing, and XP for applications that haven't been ported.
It is worth remembering that most people do not have the privileges to install software on the computers that they use.
Unfortunately, the current policy of the network team is that they will not even accept patches for Windows XP support and will merge changes that break Windows XP support.
I would be interested in statistics that show the current Windows XP user base, especially in countries with users that can most benefit from Tor. The policy has been drawn up primarily on technical considerations but if it is shown that this has negative impacts for large numbers of users then it may be reconsidered.
Thanks, Iain.