[tor-dev] The Torouter and the DreamPlug

[Runa A. Sandvik]

On Fri, Jun 10, 2011 at 4:54 PM, Runa A. Sandvik <runa.sandvik at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Jun 10, 2011 at 12:55 PM,  <andrew at torproject.org> wrote:
>> On Mon, May 30, 2011 at 01:56:25PM +0100, runa.sandvik at gmail.com wrote 2.9K bytes in 75 lines about:
>> : The whole point with the Torouter is to allow more people to run a
>> : bridge or a relay, so I see a web interface as something mandatory. So
>> : yeah, we'd have to make sure that the interface is secure.
>>
>> Right, so we have two torouters, an expert model which is the dreamplug,
>> and a non-expert model which is the excito.
>>
>> Experts use ssh and follow some instructions for configuring their
>> device.  Plus, they get some cheap hardware to do whatever else they
>> want to do with it.
>
> Do you think we should ship the plugs as they are, or should we
> re-flash and harden first?

After a short discussion with Andrew on IRC, we agreed on the
following plan; re-flash with debian, harden/lock down, install tor,
test and ship.

>> Non-experts get the excito with the web interface: point, click,
>> configured, done.
>>
>> I have 10 dreamplugs with US power config arriving soon.  Once Excito
>> has their new version ready, we can get 10 of those.  Then we find 20
>> volunteers willing to test the default configs and provide feedback.  In
>> exchange, they get to help censored users and get free hardware.
>
> We should probably discuss how we want users to provide feedback and
> what kind of data we'd like to see (i.e. we want more feedback than
> just "yay, it works" or "it doesn't work and I'm giving up").
>
>> Rather than arguing about web interfaces that do not exist, we should be
>> figuring out how to update the routers, make sure new tor packages are
>> updated timely, and how to handle support issues from the simple "it
>> doesn't work, at all" through "your router ate my cat and soured my
>> milk".
>
> We're going to need a web interface sooner or later, and I guess users
> will also start asking about client mode and a hidden service at some
> point. But we don't need all that to kick off the test phase.
>
> How to update the routers:
>
> - Excito: they roll out their own software updates and users can
> point-and-click to update via the interface.
>
> - DreamPlug: good question, I wonder if users would have to re-flash
> with a new image.
>
> Make sure new Tor packages are updated timely:
>
> - Excito: we'll need to drop them an email whenever there are new
> packages available so that they can update the Excito package repo.
> Users can also add the torproject Debian repo to their
> /etc/apt/sources.list if they don't want to wait for Excito.
>
> - DreamPlug: default OS is Ubuntu, so I guess users will want to add
> the torproject Debian repo to their /etc/apt/sources.list. Or we can
> do it for them.
>
> How to handle support issues:
>
> We should probably set up a mailing list, such as torouter at lists... I
> already have a B3 and a DreamPlug, so I should be able to reply to
> most (if not all) of the support requests.
>
> --
> Runa A. Sandvik
>



-- 
Runa A. Sandvik