[tor-dev] The Torouter and the DreamPlug

[Runa A. Sandvik]

On Mon, May 30, 2011 at 12:21 AM, Jacob Appelbaum <jacob at appelbaum.net> wrote:
> On Sat, May 28, 2011 at 11:52 PM, Runa A. Sandvik <runa.sandvik at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> DreamPlug is a new plug computer from GlobalScale Technologies:
>> http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/c-5-dreamplugs.aspx. The spec
>> looks good, it runs Ubuntu by default and it doesn't cost too much. I
>> thought that the DreamPlug was going to be very user friendly and a
>> potential candidate for the Torouter project. (Maybe) I was wrong.
>>
>>
>> When the SheevaPlug came out a couple of years ago, it shipped with a
>> web interface that enabled users to change various network options. I
>> thought the DreamPlug would ship with some kind of interface as well
>> (and my plan was to just plug in a Tor page). This is not the case; it
>> ships with lighthttpd by default and displays a static and very simple
>> placeholder page on 192.168.1.1.
>
> That's great news. A complex web app is just a giant PITA and huge attack
> surface anyhow.

Yeah, that's true.

>> If we want to use the DreamPlug for the Torouter, we will have to
>> write a web interface for easy configuration of Tor. The interface
>> should probably also provide options to better secure the DreamPlug.
>> Downloading and installing Tor isn't a problem, but the configuration
>> side of things can be tricky for users who aren't used to the command
>> line.
>
> Or perhaps we can just turn Tor on by default, ship tor-fw-helper and write
> a basic status of Tor out to a static html file?

Users who aren't familiar with the command line will probably still
have a problem configuring Tor. I think that a webui package in
Debian/Ubuntu is the best way to go.

>>
>> Thoughts? Comments?
>>
>
> The Freedombox will likely run on the dream plug, it's the reference
> platform. I think we should work on ensuring that if we ship a dream plug,
> we ship a freedombox pre-configured to run Tor - this will likely be the
> case with the FB anyway:
> http://wiki.debian.org/FreedomBox
> Basically Tor needs some kind of webui package in Debian and we'd be good to
> go.

Yep, sounds good.

-- 
Runa A. Sandvik