[or-cvs] r16890: {website} cut out two redundant questions, and start cleaning up other (website/trunk/en)

Sat Sep 13 07:23:39 UTC 2008

Author: arma
Date: 2008-09-13 03:23:38 -0400 (Sat, 13 Sep 2008)
New Revision: 16890

Modified:
   website/trunk/en/faq.wml
Log:
cut out two redundant questions, and start cleaning up others


Modified: website/trunk/en/faq.wml
===================================================================

--- website/trunk/en/faq.wml	2008-09-13 06:10:01 UTC (rev 16889)
+++ website/trunk/en/faq.wml	2008-09-13 07:23:38 UTC (rev 16890)
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@
 
 <!-- PUT CONTENT AFTER THIS TAG -->
 
+# Translators: you probably don't want to translate this file yet,
+# since I'm hoping it will keep changing for a while. Thanks! -RD
+
 <h2>Tor FAQ</h2>
 <hr />
 
@@ -24,110 +27,91 @@
 
 <a id="General"></a>
 
-<a id="WhatIsTor"></a>
-<h3><a class="anchor" href="#WhatIsTor">What is Tor?</a></h3>
-
-<p>
-Tor is an anonymity network.  It protects your privacy on the
-internet.  Tor uses a series of three proxies - computers (or
-nodes) which communicate on your behalf using their own identifying
-information - in such a way that none of them know both your identifying
-information and your destination.  Tor can also help people get around
-restrictive firewalls which censor web content.  Read the <a href="<page
-overview>">Tor overview</a> to learn more about Tor and what it can do
-for you.
-</p>
-
 <a id="CompatibleApplications"></a>
-<h3><a class="anchor" href="#CompatibleApplications">What programs and
-applications work with Tor?</a></h3>
+<h3><a class="anchor" href="#CompatibleApplications">What programs work
+with Tor?</a></h3>
 
 <p>
-Tor presents a SOCKS proxy interface to applications, so any application that
-supports SOCKS (versions 4, 4a and 5) can be anonymized using Tor. Most
-web browsers, many instant messaging and IRC clients, SSH clients and
-email clients already have built-in support for SOCKS.  However, not all SOCKS 
-interfaces are equal.  See [#SOCKSAndDNS below] for information about how some 
-SOCKS interfaces may leak information via DNS about where you are going on the 
-internet, and how you can avoid this.
+There are two pieces to "Torifying" a program: connection-level anonymity
+and application-level anonymity. Connection-level anonymity focuses on
+making sure the application's Internet connections get sent into Tor,
+so they can be anonymized. This step is normally done by configuring
+the program to use your Tor client as a "socks" proxy, but there are
+other ways to do it too. For application-level anonymity, you need to
+make sure that the information the application sends out doesn't hurt
+your privacy. (Even if the connections are being routed through Tor, you
+still don't want to include sensitive information like your name.) This
+second step needs to be done on a program-by-program basis, which is
+why we don't yet recommend very many programs for safe use with Tor.
 </p>
 
 <p>
-Since Tor does not filter message content, additional software
-agents should be used to filter content. For example, <a
-href="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy</a> is a good HTTP proxy for
-filtering dangerous or annoying web content, such as tracking scripts
-and ads.
+Most of our work so far has focused on the Firefox web browser. The
+bundles on the <a href="<page download>">download page</a> automatically
+install the <a href="<page torbutton/index>">Torbutton Firefox
+extension</a> if you have Firefox installed. As of version 1.2.0,
+Torbutton now takes care of a lot of the connection-level and
+application-level worries.
 </p>
 
 <p>
-We have compiled a <a
-href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/SupportPrograms">list
-of applications that help you direct your traffic
-through Tor</a>, and a list of instructions for <a
+There are plenty of other programs you can use with Tor,
+but we haven't researched the application-level anonymity
+issues on them well enough to be able to recommend a safe
+configuration. Our wiki has a list of instructions for <a
 href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorifyHOWTO">Torifying
-specific applications</a>. Please add to these lists and help us keep
-them accurate!
+specific applications</a>. There's also a <a
+href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/SupportPrograms">list
+of applications that help you direct your traffic through Tor</a>.
+Please add to these lists and help us keep them accurate!
 </p>
 
-<a id="Volunteer"></a>
-<h3><a class="anchor" href="#Volunteer">How can I help?</a></h3>
-
-<p>
-We've set up a preliminary <a href="<page volunteer>">"volunteer"
-page</a>, which lists a few ways to help. If you have something to
-contribute that we haven't listed there, chances are we still need it.
-</p>
-
-<p>
-There are also more answers in the <a href="#WhySlow">Why is Tor slow?</a>
-answer and the <a href="#Funding">What we need to work on</a> answer.
-</p>
-
 <a id="WhyCalledTor"></a>
 <h3><a class="anchor" href="#WhyCalledTor">Why is it called Tor?</a></h3>
 
 <p>
-Because Tor is the onion routing network. I kept telling people I was
-working on onion routing, and they said "Neat. Which one?" Even if onion
-routing has become a standard household term, this is the actual onion
-routing project, started out of the Naval Research Lab.
+Because Tor is the onion routing network. When we were starting the
+new next-generation design and implementation of onion routing in
+2001-2002, we would tell people we were working on onion routing,
+and they would say "Neat. Which one?" Even if onion routing has
+become a standard household term, Tor was born out of the actual <a
+href="http://www.onion-router.net/">onion routing project</a> run by
+the Naval Research Lab.
 </p>
 
 <p>
-(Theories about recursive acronyms are ok too. It's also got a fine
-translation into German.)
+(It's also got a fine translation from German and Turkish.)
 </p>
 
 <p>
-Note: even though it comes from an acronym, Tor is not spelled "TOR".
-Only the first letter is capitalized.
+Note: even though it originally came from an acronym, Tor is not spelled
+"TOR". Only the first letter is capitalized.
 </p>
 
 <a id="Backdoor"></a>
 <h3><a class="anchor" href="#Backdoor">Is there a backdoor in Tor?</a></h3>
 
 <p>
-There is absolutely no backdoor in Tor.  Nobody has asked us to put one
+There is absolutely no backdoor in Tor. Nobody has asked us to put one
 in, and we know some smart lawyers who say that it's unlikely that anybody
-will try to make us add one in our jurisdiction (U.S.).  If they do
+will try to make us add one in our jurisdiction (U.S.). If they do
 ask us, we will fight them, and (the lawyers say) probably win.
 </p>
 
 <p>
 We think that putting a backdoor in Tor would be tremendously
 irresponsible to our users, and a bad precedent for security software
-in general.  If we ever put a deliberate backdoor in our security
-software, it would ruin our professional reputations.  Nobody would
+in general. If we ever put a deliberate backdoor in our security
+software, it would ruin our professional reputations. Nobody would
 trust our software ever again &mdash; for excellent reason!
 </p>
 
 <p>
 But that said, there are still plenty of subtle attacks
-people might try.  Somebody might impersonate us, or break into our
-computers, or something like that.  Tor is open source, and you should
+people might try. Somebody might impersonate us, or break into our
+computers, or something like that. Tor is open source, and you should
 always check the source (or at least the diffs since the last release)
-for suspicious things.  If we (or the distributors) don't give you
+for suspicious things. If we (or the distributors) don't give you
 source, that's a sure sign something funny might be going on. You
 should also check the GPG signatures on the releases, to make sure
 nobody messed with the distribution sites.
@@ -135,13 +119,13 @@
 
 <p>
 Also, there might be accidental bugs in Tor that could affect your
-anonymity.  We don't know of such bugs right now.  If we learn of any,
-we will let you know.
+anonymity. We periodically find and fix anonymity-related bugs, so make
+sure you keep your Tor versions up-to-date.
 </p>
 
 <a id="DistributingTor"></a>
 <h3><a class="anchor" href="#DistributingTor">Can I distribute Tor on
-my magazine's CD??</a></h3>
+my magazine's CD?</a></h3>
 
 <p>
 Yes.

