[tor-relays] Another relay is using the same name as mine.

[Sebastian Hahn]

Hi Alan,

> On 11. Jun 2017, at 21:22, Alan <tor-relay at clutterbuck.uk> wrote:
> I just need some advice. I'm running 3 relays, one is called Andromeda.
> Today I find out there is another relay called Andromeda.
> 
> https://atlas.torproject.org/#search/Andromeda
> mine is running from ip 144.217.161.119
> 
> Is it a problem with relays using the same name?
> Should I contact them and inform them of their error?
> Should I just leave it?

First of all, thank you for running relays!

Two relays sharing the same name is not a problem. The Tor network used
to include a system that tried to detect name collisions and would
assign flags called Named or Unnamed to relays to identify whether that
relay <-> name mapping could be trusted or not, but this was of very
limited benefit while increasing the complexity of running a directory
authority. Note that even under that system, two relays could have the
same name, they just wouldn't both get the Named flag.

Now nicknames are not checked for uniqueness anymore and the flag isn't
assigned to anyone, so names are just pet names that have no guarantee
of uniqueness at all. You could send the operator a friendly mail,
asking them to consider changing the name, but their configuration
choice is not an error. The correct way to identify a relay is by using
its identity hash (probably FDB4FC238F13E7FEC99D025DB8B89A636EFC1EBC for
your relay).

Let me know if any questions remain.

Cheers
Sebastian