Hello tor-dev! I would like to contribute to the torouter (aka TorRouter, aka OnionBox?) project, with the intention of getting a "functional" development image for the DreamPlug hardware released in the next few weeks. The goals of the torouter project seem a bit vague (especially w/r/t a transparent torified WiFi access point), perhaps this is why development slowed down previously. I will attempt a design document and specification, but mostly focus on making the core components (debian, tor, web interface) functional and configurable, such that they could be leveraged by others as solutions to specific use cases. Will this be useful to others? It seems like the preferred collaboration tool is the trac wiki and tickets. Many of the torouter tickets seem stale and incomplete, and the roadmap on the trac wiki is very out of date. Unless there is advice i'll ignore those but continue discussion on tickets like #3854 (Summary of outstanding things with Torouter) and #3453 (Torouter desires and features). cheers!
(For those just seeing the thread, who don't know...) Latest (public) statement on the topic: https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-talk/2012-March/023799.html
ficus@robocracy.org:
I would like to contribute to the torouter (aka TorRouter, aka OnionBox?) project, with the intention of getting a "functional" development image for the DreamPlug hardware released in the next few weeks.
Great!
The goals of the torouter project seem a bit vague (especially w/r/t a transparent torified WiFi access point), perhaps this is why development slowed down previously.
I fear this thread goes unanswered and someone willing to contribute gets lost because of unresponsiveness. Does torproject have a problem to reach decisions? Who is in charge for the torrouter project? I mean, ficus could create The Best Torrouter Image, but without any review from torproject and without torproject calling the image official and supporting it, barely anyone would know and use the image. If he proposes a design and also implements it, torproject has to review the design and implementation. Someone has to make a final say in this, i.e. this, - is a must have - is a no go - is a nice to have - we don't care about but go ahead - etc.
On Wed, 12 Sep 2012, adrelanos wrote:
The goals of the torouter project seem a bit vague (especially w/r/t a transparent torified WiFi access point), perhaps this is why development slowed down previously.
I fear this thread goes unanswered and someone willing to contribute gets lost because of unresponsiveness.
Between the linked mailing list message from last March [0] and the goals at the bottom of ticket #3453 [1] I have plenty to get started. I think the project will get more interest and attention from more experienced (and busy) Tor developers once the "broken, does not turn on" type problems are fixed; at that point a more formal design/review iteration on specific device configurations and functionality can take place. [0]: https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-talk/2012-March/023799.html [1]: https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/3453
I think the project will get more interest and attention from more experienced (and busy) Tor developers once the "broken, does not turn on" type problems are fixed; at that point a more formal design/review iteration on specific device configurations and functionality can take place.
Hi ficus. I spoke with Runa on irc and it sounds like this project is pretty much mothballed at the moment. You're certainly welcome to hack on it, but be aware that it doesn't really have a maintainer at the moment. As is tradition for open source projects, you're certainly welcome to fork it. Also, we have several other things listed on the projects page that are being far more actively developed (if you'd like to work with one of us)... https://www.torproject.org/getinvolved/volunteer.html.en#Projects Shameless plug: I'm certainly more than happy to have help if python related stuff strikes your fancy. ;) -Damian
Damian Johnson:
I think the project will get more interest and attention from more experienced (and busy) Tor developers once the "broken, does not turn on" type problems are fixed; at that point a more formal design/review iteration on specific device configurations and functionality can take place.
Hi ficus. I spoke with Runa on irc and it sounds like this project is pretty much mothballed at the moment. You're certainly welcome to hack on it, but be aware that it doesn't really have a maintainer at the moment.
Argh. The project isn't mothballed. I'm the maintainer. We're currently blocking on a web interface and regular tor builds of 2.3.x for ARM with tor-fw-helper enabled. I've also been writing a number of core utilities to replace commonly vulnerable and crappy services that such a device needs. The work on tlsdate is almost entirely directed at helping set the system time on Tails and on Torouter.
As is tradition for open source projects, you're certainly welcome to fork it. Also, we have several other things listed on the projects page that are being far more actively developed (if you'd like to work with one of us)... https://www.torproject.org/getinvolved/volunteer.html.en#Projects
Please disregard this - you're welcome to do all kinds of stuff but this, like a rain dance, isn't likely to result in the best results...
Shameless plug: I'm certainly more than happy to have help if python related stuff strikes your fancy. ;)
The build of Torouter that I have running includes your arm controller. :) All the best, Jake
I fear this thread goes unanswered and someone willing to contribute gets lost because of unresponsiveness.
Does torproject have a problem to reach decisions?
Agreed that we should be more responsive to potential volunteers. However, be aware that we have over 26 different projects going on right now and far fewer than 26 active developers. We can't cover everything as well as we'd like - help wanted! https://www.torproject.org/getinvolved/volunteer.html.en#Projects Runa and Jake are maintaining Torouter, but each of them also juggle numerous other projects. Sounds like you're volunteering to become a new maintainer of the project, adrelanos? -Damian
Damian Johnson:
I fear this thread goes unanswered and someone willing to contribute gets lost because of unresponsiveness.
Does torproject have a problem to reach decisions?
Agreed that we should be more responsive to potential volunteers. However, be aware that we have over 26 different projects going on right now and far fewer than 26 active developers. We can't cover everything as well as we'd like - help wanted!
Someone already offered help: ficus.
Runa and Jake are maintaining Torouter, but each of them also juggle numerous other projects.
Are they authorized to make decisions regarding the Torrouter project? (I mean decisions like "We do (not) want the transparent proxy feature.", "This design is ok.", "This Torrouter image is good, ok let's call it official stable 1.0.".)
Sounds like you're volunteering to become a new maintainer of the project, adrelanos?
ficus's thread "[tor-dev] torrouter development)" may be seen as application to become maintainer for Torrouter. Not me.
adrelanos:
Damian Johnson:
I fear this thread goes unanswered and someone willing to contribute gets lost because of unresponsiveness.
Does torproject have a problem to reach decisions?
Agreed that we should be more responsive to potential volunteers. However, be aware that we have over 26 different projects going on right now and far fewer than 26 active developers. We can't cover everything as well as we'd like - help wanted!
Someone already offered help: ficus.
I've discussed this with ficus at length. We have some exciting plans lined up.
Runa and Jake are maintaining Torouter, but each of them also juggle numerous other projects.
Are they authorized to make decisions regarding the Torrouter project?
Uh, I guess as much as anyone?
(I mean decisions like "We do (not) want the transparent proxy feature.", "This design is ok.", "This Torrouter image is good, ok let's call it official stable 1.0.".)
Yep. I opened nearly all of the Torouter tickets with these kinds of discussions in mind - until Ficus had popped up, we'd had nearly no active discussions. I think the best way to work out these issues is on trac where we can discuss them issue by issue and keep track of the conversations.
Sounds like you're volunteering to become a new maintainer of the project, adrelanos?
ficus's thread "[tor-dev] torrouter development)" may be seen as application to become maintainer for Torrouter. Not me.
We've already discussed working on it together. Chill. All the best, Jacob
ficus@robocracy.org:
Hello tor-dev!
I would like to contribute to the torouter (aka TorRouter, aka OnionBox?) project, with the intention of getting a "functional" development image for the DreamPlug hardware released in the next few weeks.
The best bet is to jump in with the trac tickets here: https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/doc/Torouter/Roadmap https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/doc/Torouter As one might observe, the dates are pretty far off - we could use some help in prioritizing them and normalizing things. There are a bunch of tickets open that need discussions and I'd hoped for some feedback about a year ago but I think it is better late than never!
The goals of the torouter project seem a bit vague (especially w/r/t a transparent torified WiFi access point), perhaps this is why development slowed down previously. I will attempt a design document and specification, but mostly focus on making the core components (debian, tor, web interface) functional and configurable, such that they could be leveraged by others as solutions to specific use cases. Will this be useful to others?
Yes, absolutely. The goal of the torouter is simple. We want to provide a (home) router that runs Tor as a bridge or a router by default while also providing all the expected features of such a router, with next to zero configuration. I think the phrase was "plug and play, without the play" and we hope to do this by normalizing all of our work into Debian proper. The extra stuff such as opening a torified WiFi access point is a nice to have and while we did implement it, a web interface is probably more pressing.
It seems like the preferred collaboration tool is the trac wiki and tickets. Many of the torouter tickets seem stale and incomplete, and the roadmap on the trac wiki is very out of date. Unless there is advice i'll ignore those but continue discussion on tickets like #3854 (Summary of outstanding things with Torouter) and #3453 (Torouter desires and features).
I propose that we update the road map with realistic dates and for us to discuss the things in the tickets, even some of the closed tickets could use some thought. All the best, Jake
participants (4)
-
adrelanos -
Damian Johnson -
ficus＠robocracy.org -
Jacob Appelbaum