[tor-dev] The Torouter and the DreamPlug

[Kyle Williams]

Hi Runa,

On Sat, May 28, 2011 at 2:52 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.
>
> I got one of these.


> 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.
>

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.


You don't HAVE to have a web interface, but it sure does make it nice.
However, SSH is really the only secure way to ensure you don't have some XSS
or CSRF attack from your browser (cause that can be really bad when your
browser takes over Tor... ;)


> Thoughts? Comments?
>
> I got lots of experience with these types of devices.  The DreamPlug  is
using an ARM processor, much like the Yoggie Open Firewalls did.  Maybe you
heard of JanusPA(.com)...basically it was a Tor / OpenVPN Router that you
could put inline on your ethernet connection, required zero config to make
it work out of the box, and worked with any IPv4 device.

I have a build environment for the ARM architecture already, and I have a
SheevaPlug and a DreamPlug , but I haven't put Tor on it yet due to being
way overloaded with my day/night job.

If you want, I could probably get all the development stuff tarball'd up and
posted somewhere with basic instructions.  Or I could probably just take 2
hours, do a build, and stuff it into the DreamPlug , then make a tarball of
that.

As for the "Freedombox", it sounds like a over-glorified JanusPA or
DreamPlug or Gumstix.  Getting Tor running on these things isn't difficult,
and to have it automatically use Tor on boot and route all your traffic over
Tor isn't that difficult either.  It's setting up the build environment and
testing that takes the most time.

Give me a few days, maybe a week, and I'll dust off some old drives and see
what I can dig up for you.  I could probably save you a lot of time in
Development, but your on your own to tackle the learning curve.

Best Regards,

Kyle
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