[tor-relays] New obfsproxy release: obfsproxy-0.2.7 [bridge operators: please upgrade!]

[David Carlson]

On 3/24/2014 11:01 AM, Viking God wrote:
> Where can I download an obfsproxy bridge bundle nowadays? I use both win
> and linux(but not debian/ubuntu).
>
> I have found dual information pages about setting up obfsproxy+tor in
> Debian/Ubuntu Here:
> https://www.torproject.org/projects/obfsproxy-instructions.html.en
> And here:
> https://www.torproject.org/projects/obfsproxy-debian-instructions.html.en
>
> But no instructions for other OS:es, and no direct download links with
> compiled packages/programs here:
> https://www.torproject.org/dist/
>
> How do you suppose that people will be able to help setting up obfsproxy
> bridges, when there isn't any way to get instructions or packages/programs?
>
> Previously I ran an obfsproxy bridge and saw the amount of traffic get
> lower and lower, at the end it was only about 2-10 MB of traffic per
> week and with very few users. Some weeks I go no users so I stopped
> wasting my electricity and stopped running the obfs-bridge. But now I
> would like to try again after a couple of months pause. I'm interrested
> to see if the internet-blocking in Turkey might have caused some more
> traffic.
>
> I also used to run a normal bridge up until a couple of weeks ago but
> saw the traffic get as low as around 50MB per week, while normally I
> used to get around 1-2GB per week so I shut it down too. I asked myself:
> "What's the point of wasting energy and at the same time making it
> easier to hack into my network, when I'm not even helping the world?".
> So I shut it down too.
>
> Perhaps some changes in the tor network after the release of tor 0.2.4
> has reduced the number of bridge and obfsproxy users globally? Due to
> the constant flow of bugs in the different tor-related software and
> bundles, my first guess is that the problem is with changes in tor plus
> related software. A look at the bug tracker makes me wonder if there are
> more things in the tor related software that do work or don't work??? ;-)
> But perhaps more bridges are blocked nowadays by the filters that
> various countries apply to the internet?
> Or perhaps less countries block their internet users so less people need
> to use bridges?
> My ISP isn't known for blocking anything and I've never heard of any
> government blocking of tor in the EU, so the problem is probably not
> with my ISP nor the EU.
> I have always been running the latest stable release of the bundles, so
> It doesn't have anything to do with old versions.
>
> So my questions:
> Where can I find a obfsproxy bridge bundle for rpm-linux and for windows?
> Is there any good explanation to why the traffic to my normal bridge and
> my obfsproxy bridge got lower and lower after the release of tor 0.2.4
> as stable?
>
>
>
> George Kadianakis skrev 2014-03-15 14:36:
>> Hello,
>>
>> a few days after the release of obfsproxy-0.2.6, we spotted a bug
>> where scramblesuit would basically reject clients if they try to
>> connect a second time after a short amount of time has passed [0].
>>
>> This is a serious correctness bug and bridge operators are advised to
>> upgrade to obfsproxy-0.2.7 as soon as possible (we want to start
>> suggesting scramblesuit to users and we need to make sure that most
>> bridges have already upgraded by then).
>>
>> You can use git master or pip to upgrade to 0.2.7. We have also
>> notified the obfsproxy Debian maintainers and we should soon have
>> obfsproxy-0.2.7 packages ready (we will send an email to this list
>> when they are ready).
>>
>> Furthermore, obfsproxy-0.2.7 clients now support SOCKS5 (thanks Yawning!)
>> and the changes also include a few performance enhancements
>> for obfs3 and scramblesuit.
>>
>> Please upgrade your bridges.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> PS: We will do yet another obfsproxy release soon-ish (probably in the
>>     next 2 weeks) which will include some more scramblesuit
>>     improvements and other miscellaneous code changes. Again, we will inform
>>     you by sending an email to this list.
>>
>> [0]: https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/11100
>>
>>
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>> tor-relays at lists.torproject.org
>> https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays
>>
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A very short time (a few hours) after switching my relay from an
intermediate relay configuration to a bridge configuration I found that
I was no longer blocked from accessing two of the three commercial
websites that I knew had previously blocked my IP address.  That gives
me a few points with the wife.  Since I did not find specific
instructions for obfusproxy configuration, I am not sure whether my
relay has up to date obfusproxy or not, but probably not since Vialia
reports Tor 0.2.4.21. rather than the 3.6-Beta 1 which I was trying to
install on my windows 7 computer.

David C