[tor-dev] Scheduling future Tor proposal reading groups

[George Kadianakis]

Hello people,

in the beginning of 2016 we started organizing little-t-tor proposal
reading groups in IRC, where we would discuss the current status of Tor
proposals and coordinate on how to move them forward. You can see a list
of previous such meetings here:
         https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/wiki/org/teams/NetworkTeam/MeetingSchedule#Proposalreviewmeetings

Unfortunately at some point, 2016 started showing its true self, and we kind of
stopped doing those meetings in March. But they were useful, and we should
probably start doing them again!

I went through the mailing list and found a few interesting subjects that could
benefit from group discussion. Here are some ideas:

- Post-Quantum key exchanges for Tor 

  There are a few proposals falling under this topic that were developed in the
  past months. Here are a few:
    https://gitweb.torproject.org/torspec.git/tree/proposals/263-ntru-for-pq-handshake.txt
    https://gitweb.torproject.org/torspec.git/tree/proposals/269-hybrid-handshake.txt
    https://gitweb.torproject.org/torspec.git/tree/proposals/270-newhope-hybrid-handshake.txt
    https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2016-October/011553.html

  I'm far from an expert on this field, so I'm not sure about the current
  status of this project and the right direction to approach it. However, it
  seems that there have been enough developments here lately that a group
  discussion might be useful.

- A name system API for Tor

  This is a proposal suggesting a single API that allows us to integrate secure
  name systems with Tor hidden services:
    https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2016-October/011514.html

  The proposal received useful feedback in and out of the mailing list. It
  seems that implementing the proposal as part of a Tor controller might be an
  easier way to test it. Some discussion on future directions might be helpful
  here, as this is something that will be needed sooner than later.

- New topics in Next Gen Hidden Services

  We've done multiple IRC meetings on prop224, but it keeps on growing as it's
  being developed. Here are a few topics that might be worth discussing as a group:
  - Control port API for hidden services (https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/20699)
  - torrc UX for hidden services (https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2016-November/011661.html)
  - torrc/control UX for hidden service client auth (https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-dev/2016-November/011617.html)
  - UX for offline keys (https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/18098)
  - UX of hidden services on Tor Browser

- Prop271: Another algorithm for guard selection

  We've also done a few IRC meetings on future guard algorithms, but we are now
  closer to completing that project than ever. After we have a few results and
  statistics of the new guard algorithm, it might be worth scheduling a meeting
  to discuss how well it works and ways to improve it.

- And here are some more misc projects that might be worth discussing further:
  - The Tor browser sandbox that Yawning is developing and UX implications?
  - prop273: Exit relay pinning for web services ?


Please let me know if you are excited talking about any of these topics (feel
free to +1 in private email if you feel it's too spammy), or if there are any
topics I forgot to mention.

If we get enough participation we can schedule the first such meeting for December.

Thanks!