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@@ -1,110 +0,0 @@ -The Onion Routing (TOR) Frequently Asked Questions --------------------------------------------------- - -1. General. - -1.1. What is tor? - -Tor is an implementation of version 2 of Onion Routing. - -Onion Routing is a connection-oriented anonymizing communication -service. Users build a layered block of asymmetric encryptions which -describes a source-routed path through a set of nodes. Those nodes -build a "virtual circuit," in which each node knows its predecessor and -successor, but no others. Traffic flowing down the circuit is unwrapped -by a symmetric key at each node which reveals the downstream node. - -Basically tor provides a distributed network of servers ('onion -routers'). Users bounce their tcp streams (web traffic, ftp, ssh, etc) -around the routers, and recipients, observers, and even the routers -themselves have difficulty tracking the source of the stream. - -1.2. Why's it called tor? - -Because tor is the onion routing system. I kept telling people I was -working on onion routing, and they said "Neat. Which one?" Even if onion -routing has become a standard household term, this is the actual onion -routing project, started out of the Naval Research Lab. - -(Theories about recursive acronyms are ok too.) - - -2. Compiling and installing. - -[Read the README file for now; check back here once we've got packages/etc -for you.] - - -3. Running tor. - -3.1. What's this about roles? What kind of server should I run? - -The same executable ("or") functions as both client and server, depending -on the value of the config variable named 'Role'. Role represents a -combination of which tasks this particular tor server will do. The default -Role (role 15) is an onion router: it listens for onion routers, listens -for onion proxies, listens for application proxies, and it connects to -all other onion routers it learns about. A directory server (role 63) -does all of the above and also serves directory requests. A simple -onion proxy, on the other hand (role 8), only listens for application -proxies. See part 3.1 of the HACKING document for more technical details. - -3.2. So I can just run a full onion router and join the network? - -No. Users should run just an onion proxy (use the 'oprc' config file). -If you start up a full onion router, the rest of the routers in the -system won't recognize you, so they will reject your handshake attempts. - -3.3. How do I join the network then? - -If you just want to use the onion routing network, you can run a proxy -and you're all set. If you want to run a router, you must convince -the directory server operators (currently arma@mit.edu) that you're a -trustworthy person. From there, the operators add you to the directory, -which propagates out to the rest of the network. All nodes will know -about you within an hour. - -3.4. I want to run a directory server too. - -If you run a very reliable node, you plan to be around for a long time, -and you want to spend some time ensuring that router operators are -people we know and like, we may want you to run a directory server -too. We must manually add you to the 'dirservers' file that's part of -the distribution; users will only know about you when they upgrade to -a new version. Of course, you can always just start up your router as a -directory server too --- but users won't know to ask you for directories, -and more importantly, you'll never learn from the real directory servers -about recently joined routers. - - -4. Development. - -4.1. Who's doing this? - -4.2. Can I help? - -4.3. I've got a bug. - - -5. Anonymity. - -5.1. So I'm totally anonymous if I use tor? - -5.2. Where can I learn more about anonymity? - - -6. Comparison to related projects. - -6.1. Onion Routing. - -Tor *is* onion routing. - -6.2. Freedom. - - -7. Protocol and application support. - -7.1. http? ftp? udp? socks? mozilla? - - - |