[tor-relays] [New Initiative] Tor Weather: Improving the Tor Weather

[Sarthik Gupta]

*[Status Update for the Project] - **Week-1 & Week-2*

*Completed*
*1. Initialized the Repository:*
   a. Used pipenv for managing packages & virtual environments.
   b. Added & configured linters, formatters & other tools.
   c. Created few pre-commit hooks for automating trivial tasks.
   d. Configured dev & prod environments with config file.
   e. Setup a few branch policies on GitLab.

*2. Initiated the Flask App:*
    a. Created a shared SMTP package with few utility methods for sending
emails.
    b. Configured the process of injecting data in dynamic email templates.
    c. Configured the database connections with the project.
    d. Added models for the tables to be created at startup if does not
exist already.

*In-Progress*
1. Initiated the development of scripts for fetching data from Onionoo.
2. Started developing queries for fetching data from the tables including
interfaces for each of the responses.


Updates for the Project will also be made available on the Project Wiki - Week
1 & Week 2 · Wiki · sarthikg / Tor-Weather · GitLab (torproject.org)
<https://gitlab.torproject.org/sarthikg/tor-weather/-/wikis/Project-Status-Updates/Week-1-&-Week-2>
.

Thanks & Regards,
Sarthik Gupta


On Sat, Jun 11, 2022 at 1:00 AM Sarthik Gupta <sarthikg at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hey, thanks for going through the proposal.
>
> So, prior to writing the proposal for the Tor-Weather, I referred
> to multiple sources of which https://github.com/thingless/torweather was
> one. Some parts of the code can be reused, though the implementation
> differs by a great extent.
>
> It’s nice to know that someone else is also working on a similar project.
> Would definitely love to interact with nusenu and explore his vision for
> the project. In case the visions align, it would be great to have a
> co-contributor.
>
> In terms of the notifications, we considered the issues that could be
> caused by frequent unreliable notifications, and that’s why we’ll be
> offering an option to customize each notification individually. For
> instance, relay operators can customize the “Losing a flag” notification to
> only get triggered if the relay has lost a flag for a minimum of 24hrs.
> Take note that this could be any number of hours. I think that should solve
> the issue.
>
> Prior to sending the previous email, I did try to enable comments on the
> GitLab wiki, but it seemed a bit complicated to enable. Will be exploring
> other ways to get this done & will send a follow-up email for that.
>
> Finally, I agree the man-pages listed that the email may be obscure & not
> should be. Honestly, I didn’t pay attention to that level of detail while
> writing the proposal, have made the corrections, and will take a look
> beforehand from the next time.
>
> Thanks & Regards,
> Sarthik Gupta
>
> On Wed, Jun 8, 2022 at 7:49 PM <lists at for-privacy.net> wrote:
>
>> On Wednesday, June 8, 2022 3:39:55 AM CEST Sarthik Gupta wrote:
>>
>> > The tor-weather service will offer a plethora of notifications options
>> for
>> > the relays.
>> If you program something new, see if you can use the old code:
>> https://github.com/thingless/torweather
>> As far as I know, nusenu is also building something new. I don't know if
>> he
>> has already done something. He'll read this and get in touch.
>>
>> ;-)
>> dream: someone resuscitates OnionTip.com or TorTip.com
>>
>> > These include, the node being down, running on EOL/Outdated
>> > version, losing a flag, ranking in top 20/50/100, etc. These
>> notifications
>> > can be subscribed & customized by the relay operators to fit their needs
>> > using a web-frontend.
>> Please not 'losing a flag'
>> This confuses people and encourages even more people not to update their
>> relays. Or like at the moment: 2 Authority voting running relays offline
>> &
>> flags come and go. Then this list is flooded with mails.
>>
>> > Folks interested in the project can refer this
>> > <https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2022-May/014734.html>
>> > thread in the tor-dev mailing list for regular updates. Suggestions are
>> > always welcomed! Please reach out to us in irc (#tor-dev) for any ideas,
>> > questions, or suggestions you might have.
>>
>> Unfortunately, comments are not allowed in:
>> https://gitlab.torproject.org/sarthikg/tor-weather/-/wikis/Proposal
>>
>> Cons:
>> The email provided in the ContactInfo is obfuscated in most of the cases
>> as
>> they should be according to the torrc documentation. Hence this
>> information
>> cannot be relied upon.
>>
>> Please replace the link to the outdated jessie manpage
>> use stable 'bullseye' or
>> https://manpages.debian.org/main/tor/torrc.5.en.html
>>
>> You _MAY_ want to obscure is in the torrc not _SHOULD_ And especially in
>> the
>> last few weeks, several Tor Dev's have asked:
>> - DO NOT obfuscate your contact information! Maintainers already burn a
>> lot of
>> time trying to decipher obfuscated contact info!
>>
>> Every reasonable email provider has spamassassin and amavisd-new running.
>> We
>> should tell people to use the header: 'X-Spam-Level: YES'
>>
>> --
>> ╰_╯ Ciao Marco!
>>
>> Debian GNU/Linux
>>
>> It's free software and it gives you
>> freedom!_______________________________________________
>> tor-relays mailing list
>> tor-relays at lists.torproject.org
>> https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-relays
>>
>
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