[tor-dev] The Torouter project - where are we now?

[Andrew Lewman]

On Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:17:17 +0100
"Runa A. Sandvik" <runa.sandvik at gmail.com> wrote:
> I am trying to figure out how we can move the Torouter project
> forward. In this email, I will try to summarize the current status of
> this project.

My general thoughts are that we figure out the web ui, a config that is
a bridge by default, and start sending some out to users to get some
real feedback.

> #2334: Torouter on Buffalo breaks with large cached-descriptors[.new]
> files. The quick and easy solution here is to attach a USB stick to
> the router and use it as Tor's data directory. However, it would be
> great if someone could take a look at this and figure out a way to
> solve it.

Shipping a beta test router with a 1 gb disk stuck in it isn't so bad.
Fixing tor to handle such a constrained environment is better, but
clearly longer term.

> #2376: Torouter on OpenWrt shouldn't have its data directory in /tmp/.
> The problem with having Tor's data directory in /tmp is that whenever
> Torouter is rebooted, Tor generates new keys and gets a new
> fingerprint.

I don't see this as a real problem, actually.  

> #2370: Torouter basic Web UI for OpenWrt. I haven't tried the web
> interface myself, but development seems to be moving along nicely. I'm
> not sure what the remaining steps are, other than packaging it as
> tor-ui (or similar) for OpenWrt.

A tor-ui for openwrt sounds good.


> 1. How can we make sure that the version of Tor in OpenWrt is always
> up to date? Should we set up our own OpenWrt repository? Right now,
> the version of Tor in OpenWrt is 0.2.1.26. Also, should we offer
> packages for both stable and unstable?

A tor openwrt package sounds good.  

> 2. We want to collect statistics, which means that we need to ship a
> GeoIP file as well. I'm thinking we should create a tor-geoipdb
> package for OpenWrt. Thoughts?

A tor-geoipdb package sounds good.

> 3. Do we want one Tor process for bridging and one for the transparent
> wifi network? I think this sounds good, if the router can handle it.
> If not, then just running a bridge is ok too.

I think starting with a bridge config is good.  Starting with
transparent tor wifi may be too much to start.  The original goal of
the router was to provide automatically configured bridges and relays
for people who want to help.

-- 
Andrew
pgp 0x74ED336B