[tor-reports] Tails report for September, 2013

[Tails folks]

Releases
========

Tails 0.20.1 was released on September 19.
<https://tails.boum.org/news/version_0.20.1>

Tails 0.21 has been scheduled for October 29.
<https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-September/003719.html>

Tails 0.22 has been scheduled for December 11.
<https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-September/003718.html>

Metrics
=======

- Tails has been started more than 174 269 times in September.
  This makes a boot every 15 seconds on average.

- 14 166 downloads of the OpenPGP signature of Tails ISO.

Code
====

- We had a low-hanging fruits session on Saturday 21.
  <https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-September/003703.html>

- A launcher for KeePassX was added to the desktop.
  <https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=feature%2Fkeepassx%5Flauncher>
  <https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6290>

- It is now possible to install Tails on SD cards using SDIO hardware.
  <https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=feature%2Fsdio>
  <https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6324>

- Some issues were fixed for the migration to Tails Wheezy.
  <https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=feature%2Fwheezy>

- The problem that prevented some packages to be installable on Tails
  was solved.

<https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=bugfix%2Ffix%5Fpackages%5Fimpossible%5Fto%5Finstall>

- Tails USB Installer:

  - Rebranded to *Tails Installer*.
    <http://git.tails.boum.org/liveusb-creator/log/?h=feature/sdio>

  - Display a confirmation dialog before installing Tails.

<http://git.tails.boum.org/liveusb-creator/log/?h=feature/confirmation_dialog>
    <https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6293>

  - Display device vendor, model and size.

<http://git.tails.boum.org/liveusb-creator/log/?h=feature/list_device_name>
    <https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6292>

  - Any `.iso` file present in the Tails partition will be skipped
    during cloning. Many thanks to Sina for providing a patch!
    <https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/5300>

- The information icon when a bad passphrase is entered in Tails Greeter
  was replaced by a proper warning icon. Many thanks to Andres Gomez
  for providing a patch!

<http://git.tails.boum.org/greeter/commit/?id=7ce672d21fd94badf38f8a52279aa10fc7917df8>
  <https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/5332>

- The persistent volume is now properly umounted on shutdown.

<https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=bugfix%2Funmount%2Dpersistent%2Dvolume%2Don%2Dshutdown>
  <https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6228>

- Tails now ships Tor 0.2.4.
  <https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=feature%2Ftor%2D0%2E2%2E4>

- Tails now includes Linux 3.10.11.
  <https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=feature%2Flinux%2D3%2E10%2E11>

- A minor fix to our automated test suite was proposed.

<https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=test%2Ffix%2Ddetection%2Dof%2Dused%2Ddisplay>

Documentation and website
=========================

- A branch to improve the bug reporting workflow was submitted.

- A plan to restructure the documentation for Mac was drafted.
  <https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6319>

- A mockup for the new contribute section has been designed
  incrementally.
  <https://tails.boum.org/blueprint/contribute_section/>

- The documentation on cold boot attacks and ways to shutdown has been
  rewritten. Many thanks to mercedes508 for working on that!
  <https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=doc%2Fcold%2Dboot%2Dattack>
  <https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6008>

- The documentation explaining why Tor is slow has been refined.

<https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=doc%2Fexplain%5Fwhy%5FTor%5Fis%5Fslow>
  <https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/5641>

Infrastructure
==============

- You can download nightly builds of different branches of Tails on
  <http://nightly.tails.boum.org/>.
  - They have more unique names than previous builds.
  - They are signed with OpenPGP key 0xD83A438B2F916605.
    <https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6193>

- We have started looking what UEFI hardware we need to do research
  and tests in this area. We would not mind a 13-inch 2011 MacBook Pro
  (MacBookPro8,1) or similar. We would not refuse a recent netbook
  that boots off UEFI, either.

On-going discussions
====================

- Removing the clock applet from the desktop or Displaying localized
  timezone.
  <https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-September/003680.html>
  <https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6284>

- Creating a logo for Tails, with new proposals by Carmie and Kevin C.
  Krinke.
  <https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/5797>
  <https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-September/003612.html>
  <https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-September/003563.html>

- Emptying Trash on persistent volume
  <https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-September/003540.html>

Funding
=======

- We finally signed our short-term contract with sponsor Bravo. That
  will keep us very busy until the end of the year, and will address
  some of the stumbling blocks on the road towards Tails 1.0!

- We paid the first bounty of our bounty program. This one automated the
  migration of our ikiwiki tickets to Redmine.
  <https://labs.riseup.net/code/projects/tails/issues?query_id=108>

Press and testimonials
======================

- 2013-09-12: In Inside the Effort to Crowdfund NSA-Proof Email and
  Chat Services. by DJ Pangburn, Riseup birds write (about the TBB)
  "Combined with the TAILS project, which Riseup supports, there is
  nothing better."

<http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/inside-the-effort-to-crowdfund-nsa-proof-email-and-chat-services>

- 2013-09-05: In How to remain secure against NSA
  surveillance, Bruce Schneier wrote: "Since I started working with
  Snowden's documents, I have been using GPG, Silent Circle, Tails, OTR,
  TrueCrypt, BleachBit, and a few other things I'm not going to
  write about."

<http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/05/nsa-how-to-remain-secure-surveillance>

-- 
Tails folks