How to use Tor with Trisquel
Just installed Trisquel for the first time and I am learning my way around.
I think that I have Tor installed, because the command:
sudo apt-get install tor
gives me this:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
tor is already the newest version.
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
libutouch-grail1 gir1.2-timezonemap-1.0 gir1.2-gstreamer-0.10 archdetect-deb
python-pyicu python-argparse libdebian-installer4 rdate python-xklavier
libutouch-evemu1 libutouch-frame1 apt-clone libtimezonemap1 dpkg-repack
libutouch-geis1 libdebconfclient0
Use 'apt-get autoremove' to remove them.
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
I have the green onion icon in the bottom right and I can open the Vidalia Control Panel, which tells me I am connected to the Tor network. But surfing the web is nothing like when I used Tor in Ubuntu. How do I now surf with Abrowser in a way that guarantees me the Tor protection?
Thanks!
I don't know to do it with vidalia installed on trisquel.But if you download tor bundle from here http://torproject.org.in/dist/torbrowser/linux/tor-browser-gnu-linux-i686-2.2.37-1-dev-en-US.tar.gz , extract it.
Then open directory named tor-browser.
right click on that directory and select open with terminal
Then type
./start* (it is for executing shell script named start-tor-browser)
Then it will open vidalia, when vidalia completes it's loading it will automatically open firefox with tor enabled.
Wow, this worked like magic, thank you very much! I wish the Tor site had this instruction in their directions for GNU/Linux installations so I wouldn't have to bother you.
Thanks again!
I am a member!
Once Tor is running (green icon from Vidalia) you need to set the browser to use Tor as proxy.
Here is the configuration with default Abrowser, Tor and Vidalia
Abrowser:
Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Network > Settings...
SOCKS Host: 127.0.0.1 Port: 9050
(SOCKS v5)
I wouldn't trust this "Tor network" as an effective tool to protect one's privacy.
Tor has been developed by the US government. And is still supported by it, to this day.
"Originally sponsored by the US Naval Research Laboratory,[8] Tor was financially supported by the Electronic Frontier Foundation from 2004 to 2005.[10] Tor software is now developed by the Tor Project, which has been a 501(c)(3) research/education nonprofit organization[11] based in the United States of America[1] since December 2006 and receives a diverse base of financial support;[10] the U.S. State Department, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, and the National Science Foundation are major contributors.[12]" --- Wikipedia
This is the same entity that has an interest in spying - and is known to spy - on people.
If I were the US government, knowing that people would want to create and use this kind of networks to protect their privacy, I would develop one, in advance, that would be easily hacked - and, therefore, not effective - publicize it a lot and convince those same people to use it.
And, not surprisingly...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor_%28anonymity_network%29#Weaknesses
I am a member!
This was never a secret. If the NSA wants to hide something in software to gain access to peoples machines they wouldn't put it here. It just doesn't make sense. It is some of the most scrutinized code around. There are dozens of educational institutions, security experts, crypto people, and others who keep an eye on it. The development model allows for it. The code is not developed in secret and later released under a free license. It is a completely open process that all can participate in.
If your concerned then you better not use Truecrypt, LibreOffice, or X. I'd imagine the majority of code on your system started out its development in secret. There were no third parties scrutinizing every little update.
The weaknesses in Tor are known too. It's a low latency network. Compromises had to be made in order to achieve that. This is also no secret and there is even a big fat warning that the software should not be relied upon. There is a stable release though so you have to take it with a grain of salt.
Besides the Electronic Frontier foundations having had supported it for years the developers are also extremely well know and careful with releases. They know people are using it despite the warnings. The one developer I believe even got hassled by the TSA as he was involved with or communicated with wikileaks. This project has lots of good karma in the free software community. While I have not analyzed the code I can say that there are no leaks for which I have found when properly setup.
It is not recommended to use Tor in and of itself. Using the Torbrowser is a better bet. Using Torbrowser instead of Tor increases the possible set of users. It also ensures that you don't become a victim of potential vulnerabilities. For instance Adobe Flash is not included and Javascript is disabled (I believe, or at least some scripting is). There are lots of other changes made.
I didn't say anything about hidden code in the Tor network. I know it's an open source project. What I said is that it's a network know not to be safe - as it is explained in the last link I left. Unlike a lot of people working for the US government, I'm not a computer security expert. So, even if I try, I can never totally comprehend how secure this network is or is not.
(How do I even know if all the servers used in this network truly do what they claim to be doing and if some of them are not just faking it, for example? Also, as far as I know, the known flaws that have been, so far, discovered in this network are just that - what is publicly know. And if that is what a few groups, with a very limited funding, are capable of discovering, I wonder what the US government - who invented the Internet itself, and a whole lot of things, with its trillions of dollars, supercomputers and armies of hackers at its disposal - is capable of.)
You can all trust who you want... I'm just giving my opinion. And, being more specific, I just personally don't trust a government who invades and bombs foreign countries, tortures people, has concentration camps, kills its own citizens with no legal process whatsoever, is, and continues to be, responsible for the deaths of millions of people worldwide and that is turning its society into a truly police state...
The US government doesn't want to protect people's privacy. Quite the opposite. And it doesn't make any sense that it would help to develop a truly secure network, as this one claims to be. Why would the US government help people to protect themselves against itself? I doesn't add up. (And if that's not the objective, then what is it, here?)
Concerning the EFF...
It's one of many fake foundations that are actually working for the powers-that-be. And it is, obviously, no accident that it collaborates with the US government in the development of this network. It's financed by the same economic interests who control the US government. And I can easily get their own reports who prove it. But one would have to know "who's who" of the political and economical elite in order to know what I'm talking about.
I know who's the person you're talking about, when you mention an episode with the TSA. It's one of the hackers who participated in this debate. The TSA episode doesn't prove anything. Intelligence operations are all about deception. And the episode you talk about could just be theatre, in order to convince people he's something he's not.
And, by the way...
Trying to hide from your governments is not the way to go.
Fighting for a society were there is not such government intrusion is.
The more you just try to hide from them and don't fight them, the more space of manoeuvre our governments have and the more at will they are to violate your privacy.
What everyone needs to do is to openly and very loudly say that this type of surveillance is inadmissible and put an end to it.
"To poke Big Brother in the eye", as Richard Stallman says.
Stefano, yes, the Tor installation problem has been solved.
Thanks to everyone for your technical help and for your thought!