On 2021-12-22 22:42, Gary C. New via tor-relays wrote:
> I know it might be a fundamental change to the Tor network, but would
> it be possible to obfuscate the Tor bridge/relay addresses with their
> respective fingerprints; similar, to the I2P network? I've often
> thought that this aspect of the I2P network is one that is implemented
> well. Perhaps Directory Authorities could preform fingerprint to
> address resolution? I think it would be extremely beneficial if
> neither bridge or relay addresses were published in the wild. It would
> make great strides in further buffering the Tor network from various
> black-listing/censorship techniques.

The thing is, while Tor itself is decentralized, the directory
authorities and fallback directories are not.

For a Tor client to bootstrap, you need a list of relays to be able to
connect to. And in turn you have to contact the dirauths or the
fallbacks.

While you could use an I2P-style or more recently blockchain-style
setup, I believe there was a reason for Tor to use centralized dirauths.

I can't seem to find the article/FAQ right now, even though I had it a
few years ago. I'm guessing it's to prevent malicious dirauths, unlike
how Bitcoin could get manipulated by bad actors with a decentralized
authority system.

-Neel