[tor-relays] [tor-r at elays] What's a "useful" relay?

[Rana]

@Ivan
 
>If you think that your relay is underrated or has poor performance try to adjust your hardware/settings. Anyway almost every relay operator has this kind of "operator anxiety". Don't worry. ;)
 
It is not about anxiety. The last thing that would cause anxiety for me is the possibility to find another cool project for my Pi :)
 
>If there were only blazing fast relays it would decrease anonymity because these relays would be placed in some datacenters and operated by small amount of people (entities).
>Tor network needs all kinds of relays to be strong. Diversity is about platform, location, connectivity, etc, etc.
 
While I hold the same opinion as you (intuitively) I am interested not in intuition but in in a sober technical analysis, and  not in words of encouragement, or in the customary "thank you thank you thank you for running a relay"
 
I hear opinions here that small relays are not really useful, and about small bridges I heard here that they are actually causing DAMAGE. 
 
Those opinions were backed by technical arguments, here are a few:
 
-  the numerous small relays that change their IP addresses burden the network unnecessarily with frequent re-publishing of their descriptors
-  small relays that carry a small number of circuits actually DESTROY anonymity since the small number of circuits going through them makes it easier to de-anonymize traffic;
-  anonymity is much better served by a few large relays since they carry a lot of circuits simultaneously, and for this reason DirAuths try to saturate them before they direct traffic to small relays
-  the connections through small relays are quickly saturated, making using the internet a horribly slow and unpleasant experience
- Isis, the bridge db and bridge authority operator, has asked Tor people who make decisions  NOT to recommend that people run bridges on their small residential connections, because the need to re-distribute information about changed IP addresses is a major hurdle towards bridge adoption
 
Or as one DirAuth operator summarized it: "On balance, the very small relays do not contribute enough resources compared to the associated costs to be worthwhile."
 
All of which is exactly the opposite of what you are saying and what was also my intuitive opinion. 
 
So I am interested to know if there are solid, TECHNICALLY SOUND opinions in favor of use of small relays. If running a small relay is just for feeling good and displaying political support for privacy rights, then I am outta here. I feel good already and I have other means of expressing my political support.
 
Rana
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