[tor-dev] The Torouter and the DreamPlug

[Runa A. Sandvik]

On Mon, May 30, 2011 at 4:55 AM, Kyle Williams <kyle.kwilliams at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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.

Happy with it so far? Any issues with overheating or something similar?

>>
>> 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... ;)

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.

>>
>> 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.

What is "the development stuff"?

-- 
Runa A. Sandvik