[tor-reports] Tails report for May, 2013

[Tails folks]

Hi,

here's the Tails report for May, 2013.

Releases
========

Tails 0.18 was released on May 18:
https://tails.boum.org/news/version_0.18/

Metrics
=======

  - 128 676 connections of Tails to the Tor network. This makes a boot
    every 21 seconds on average (this is an approximation from the
    requests made to the security announcements feed when Tails is
    connected to Tor).

  - 51 non-empty bug reports were received through WhisperBack.

  - 630 comments were posted on the forum, with 143 signed by Tails.

Code
====

- We had a "low-hanging fruits" session on May 22, that was attended
  by three persons.

  https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-May/003076.html

- Some important bugs were fixed in tails-greeter, thanks
  to winterfairy!

  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=tails/tails-greeter.git;a=summary

- A branch to install Linux 3.8 was developed and merged. It triggered
  a bug in the Persistent Volume Assistant, that was fixed.

  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/feature/linux-3.8
  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=tails/persistence-setup.git;a=commit;h=c94d7432e649ff9b7974559b28b881ddf89f3ed0

- The automatic re-installation of additional software packages
  feature was improved.

  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/feature/remember_installed_packages

- live-boot 3.x final is now installed, and the old compatibility
  symlinks were removed. Same for live-config 3.x final.

  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/feature/live-boot_3.0_final
  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/feature/remove_live-boot_compatibility_symlinks
  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/feature/live-config_3.0_final

- A bug that made it a pain to use our OpenPGP applet was
  partially fixed.

  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/bugfix/gpgapplet_do_not_erase_clipboard

- More work was done to remove GNOME proxy settings.

  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/feature/remove_gnome_proxy_settings

- A branch to update virt-what was proposed.

  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/feature/newer_virt-what

- A branch to use bilibop was proposed.

  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/feature/bilibop

- Some preliminary work was done to get our nice custom boot splash
  screen back.

  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/feature/tails-plymouth-theme

- A smtube backport was prepared.

  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/feature/smtube

- Some post-Wheezy work was done.

  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/feature/wheezy-security_APT_source
  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/bugfix/post-wheezy_pinning

- More precise plans were drawn about the future of tails-greeter.

  https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-May/003099.html

- Various TBB settings were imported.

  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/feature/torbrowser

Documentation and Website
=========================

- The end-user documentation about
  `feature/set-wireless-devices-state' was reviewed and improved.

  http://git.immerda.ch/?p=amnesia.git;a=shortlog;h=refs/heads/feature/set-wireless-devices-state

- The Tails specification and design document received various minor
  updates and improvements, as did the release process documentation.

  https://tails.boum.org/contribute/design/

- Tons of old forum posts were cleaned up, as part of our effort to
  import valuable existing knowledge from there into the upcoming
  Q&A website.

On-going discussions
====================

- We've discussed inclusion of Martus in Tails.

- Deanonymization potential by the desktop user.

  https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-May/003078.html

- Adding support for keeping entry guards.

  https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-May/003111.html

- Removing Iceweasel popups that confuse (some) users

  https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-May/003109.html

Infrastructure
==============

Various bits were updated to reflect the fact that Debian Wheezy
was released.

Funding
=======

- We went on working on a grant application for more long-term
  funding with sponsor Foxtrot.

- Draft contracts were sent to the bounties candidates. Some have
  started working on their bounty!

Cheers,
-- 
Tails folks