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4) #include "head.wmi" TITLE="Tor FAQ"
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10) # Translators: you probably don't want to translate this file yet,
11) # since I'm hoping it will keep changing for a while. Thanks! -RD
12) 

13) <h2>Tor FAQ</h2>
14) <hr />

15) 

16) <ul>
17) <li><a href="#General">General questions</a></li>
18) <li><a href="#foo">Compilation and Installation</a></li>
19) <li><a href="#foo">Running Tor</a></li>
20) <li><a href="#foo">Running a Tor client</a></li>
21) <li><a href="#foo">Running a Tor relay</a></li>
22) <li><a href="#foo">Running a Tor hidden service</a></li>
23) <li><a href="#foo">What happens to my donation?</a></li>
24) </ul>
25) 
26) <hr />
27) 
28) <a id="General"></a>
29) 
30) <a id="CompatibleApplications"></a>

31) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#CompatibleApplications">What programs work
32) with Tor?</a></h3>
33) 
34) <p>
35) There are two pieces to "Torifying" a program: connection-level anonymity
36) and application-level anonymity. Connection-level anonymity focuses on
37) making sure the application's Internet connections get sent into Tor,
38) so they can be anonymized. This step is normally done by configuring
39) the program to use your Tor client as a "socks" proxy, but there are
40) other ways to do it too. For application-level anonymity, you need to
41) make sure that the information the application sends out doesn't hurt
42) your privacy. (Even if the connections are being routed through Tor, you
43) still don't want to include sensitive information like your name.) This
44) second step needs to be done on a program-by-program basis, which is
45) why we don't yet recommend very many programs for safe use with Tor.

46) </p>
47) 
48) <p>

49) Most of our work so far has focused on the Firefox web browser. The
50) bundles on the <a href="<page download>">download page</a> automatically
51) install the <a href="<page torbutton/index>">Torbutton Firefox
52) extension</a> if you have Firefox installed. As of version 1.2.0,
53) Torbutton now takes care of a lot of the connection-level and
54) application-level worries.

55) </p>
56) 
57) <p>

58) There are plenty of other programs you can use with Tor,
59) but we haven't researched the application-level anonymity
60) issues on them well enough to be able to recommend a safe
61) configuration. Our wiki has a list of instructions for <a

62) href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorifyHOWTO">Torifying

63) specific applications</a>. There's also a <a
64) href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/SupportPrograms">list
65) of applications that help you direct your traffic through Tor</a>.
66) Please add to these lists and help us keep them accurate!

67) </p>
68) 
69) <a id="WhyCalledTor"></a>
70) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#WhyCalledTor">Why is it called Tor?</a></h3>
71) 
72) <p>

73) Because Tor is the onion routing network. When we were starting the
74) new next-generation design and implementation of onion routing in
75) 2001-2002, we would tell people we were working on onion routing,
76) and they would say "Neat. Which one?" Even if onion routing has
77) become a standard household term, Tor was born out of the actual <a
78) href="http://www.onion-router.net/">onion routing project</a> run by
79) the Naval Research Lab.

80) </p>
81) 
82) <p>

83) (It's also got a fine translation from German and Turkish.)

84) </p>
85) 
86) <p>

87) Note: even though it originally came from an acronym, Tor is not spelled
88) "TOR". Only the first letter is capitalized.

89) </p>
90) 
91) <a id="Backdoor"></a>
92) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#Backdoor">Is there a backdoor in Tor?</a></h3>
93) 
94) <p>

95) There is absolutely no backdoor in Tor. Nobody has asked us to put one

96) in, and we know some smart lawyers who say that it's unlikely that anybody

97) will try to make us add one in our jurisdiction (U.S.). If they do

98) ask us, we will fight them, and (the lawyers say) probably win.
99) </p>
100) 
101) <p>
102) We think that putting a backdoor in Tor would be tremendously
103) irresponsible to our users, and a bad precedent for security software

104) in general. If we ever put a deliberate backdoor in our security
105) software, it would ruin our professional reputations. Nobody would

106) trust our software ever again — for excellent reason!
107) </p>
108) 
109) <p>
110) But that said, there are still plenty of subtle attacks

111) people might try. Somebody might impersonate us, or break into our
112) computers, or something like that. Tor is open source, and you should

113) always check the source (or at least the diffs since the last release)

114) for suspicious things. If we (or the distributors) don't give you

115) source, that's a sure sign something funny might be going on. You
116) should also check the GPG signatures on the releases, to make sure
117) nobody messed with the distribution sites.
118) </p>
119) 
120) <p>
121) Also, there might be accidental bugs in Tor that could affect your

122) anonymity. We periodically find and fix anonymity-related bugs, so make
123) sure you keep your Tor versions up-to-date.

124) </p>
125) 
126) <a id="DistributingTor"></a>
127) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#DistributingTor">Can I distribute Tor on

128) my magazine's CD?</a></h3>

129) 
130) <p>
131) Yes.
132) </p>
133) 
134) <p>
135) The Tor software is <a href="http://www.fsf.org/">free software</a>. This
136) means we give you the rights to redistribute the Tor software, either
137) modified or unmodified, either for a fee or gratis. You don't have to
138) ask us for specific permission.
139) </p>
140) 
141) <p>
142) However, if you want to redistribute the Tor software you must follow our
143) <a href="https://svn.torproject.org/svn/trunk/LICENSE">LICENSE</a>.
144) Essentially this means that you need to include our LICENSE file along
145) with whatever part of the Tor software you're distributing.
146) </p>
147) 
148) <p>
149) Most people who ask us this question don't want to distribute just the
150) Tor software, though. They want to distribute the Tor bundles, which
151) typically include <a href="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy</a>
152) and <a href="http://www.vidalia-project.net/">Vidalia</a>.
153) You will need to follow the licenses for those programs
154) as well. Both of them are distributed under the <a
155) href="http://www.fsf.org/licensing/licenses/gpl.html">GNU General
156) Public License</a>. The simplest way to obey their licenses is to
157) include the source code for these programs everywhere you include
158) the bundles themselves. Look for "source" packages on the <a
159) href="http://www.vidalia-project.net/download.php">Vidalia
160) download page</a> and the <a
161) href="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">Privoxy
162) download page</a>.
163) </p>
164) 
165) <p>
166) Also, you should make sure not to confuse your users about what Tor is,
167) who makes it, and what properties it provides (and doesn't provide). See
168) our <a href="<page trademark-faq>">trademark FAQ</a> for details.
169) </p>
170) 
171) <p>
172) Lastly, you should realize that we release new versions of the
173) Tor software frequently, and sometimes we make backward incompatible
174) changes. So if you distribute a particular version of the Tor software, it
175) may not be supported &mdash; or even work &mdash; six months later. This
176) is a fact of life for all security software under heavy development.
177) </p>
178) 
179) <a id="SupportMail"></a>
180) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#SupportMail">How can I get an answer to my
181) Tor support mail?</a></h3>
182) 
183) <p>
184) Many people send the Tor developers mail privately, or send mail to
185) our internal aliases like tor-webmaster, with questions about their
186) specific setup -- they can't get their firewall working right,
187) they can't configure Privoxy correctly, or so on. Sometimes our
188) volunteers can answer these mails, but typically they need to spend
189) most of their time on development tasks that will benefit more people.
190) This is especially true if your question is already covered in the <a
191) href="<page documentation>">documentation</a> or on this FAQ. We don't
192) hate you; we're just busy.
193) </p>
194) 
195) <p>
196) So if we don't answer your mail, first check the <a href="<page
197) documentation>">documentation</a> page, along with this FAQ,
198) to make sure your question isn't already answered.  Then read <a
199) href="http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html">"How to ask
200) questions the smart way"</a>. If this doesn't help you, note that we
201) have <a href="<page documentation>#Support">an IRC channel</a> where you
202) can ask your questions (but if they are still open-ended, ill-formed,
203) or not about Tor, you likely won't get much help there either). Lastly,
204) people on the <a href="<page documentation>#MailingLists">or-talk
205) mailing list</a> may be able to provide some hints for you, if
206) others have experienced your problems too. Be sure to look over <a
207) href="http://archives.seul.org/or/talk/">the archives</a> first.
208) </p>
209) 
210) <p>
211) Another strategy is to <a href="<page docs/tor-doc-relay>">run a Tor
212) relay for a while</a>, and/or <a href="<page donate>">donate money</a>
213) <a href="<page volunteer>">or time</a> to the effort. We're more likely
214) to pay attention to people who have demonstrated interest and commitment
215) to giving back to the Tor community.
216) </p>
217) 
218) <p>
219) If you find an answer, please stick around on the IRC channel or the
220) mailing list and answer questions from others.
221) </p>
222) 
223) <a id="WhySlow"></a>
224) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#WhySlow">Why is Tor so slow?</a></h3>
225) 
226) <p>
227) There are many reasons why the Tor network is currently slow.
228) </p>
229) 
230) <p>
231) Before we answer, though, you should realize that Tor is never going to
232) be blazing fast. Your traffic is bouncing through volunteers' computers
233) in various parts of the world, and some bottlenecks and network latency
234) will always be present. You shouldn't expect to see university-style
235) bandwidth through Tor.
236) </p>
237) 
238) <p>
239) But that doesn't mean that it can't be improved. The current Tor network
240) is quite small compared to the number of people trying to use it, and
241) many of these users don't understand or care that Tor can't currently
242) handle file-sharing traffic load.
243) </p>
244) 
245) <p>
246) What can you do to help?
247) </p>
248) 
249) <ul>
250) 
251) <li>
252) <a href="<page docs/tor-doc-relay>">Configure your Tor to relay traffic
253) for others</a>. Help make the Tor network large enough that we can handle
254) all the users who want privacy and security on the Internet.
255) </li>
256) 
257) <li>
258) <a href="<page gui/index>">Help us make Tor more usable</a>. We
259) especially need people to help make it easier to configure your Tor
260) as a relay. Also, we need help with clear simple documentation to
261) walk people through setting it up.
262) </li>
263) 
264) <li>
265) There are some bottlenecks in the current Tor network. Help us design
266) experiments to track down and demonstrate where the problems are, and
267) then we can focus better on fixing them.
268) </li>
269) 
270) <li>
271) There are some steps that individuals
272) can take to improve their Tor performance. <a
273) href="https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/FireFoxTorPerf">You
274) can configure your Firefox to handle Tor better</a>, <a
275) href="http://www.pps.jussieu.fr/~jch/software/polipo/tor.html">you can use
276) Polipo with Tor</a>, or you can try <a href="<page download>">upgrading
277) to the latest version of Tor</a>.  If this works well, please help by
278) documenting what you did, and letting us know about it.
279) </li>
280) 
281) <li>
282) Tor needs some architectural changes too. One important change is to
283) start providing <a href="#EverybodyARelay">better service to people who
284) relay traffic</a>. We're working on this, and we'll finish faster if we
285) get to spend more time on it.
286) </li>
287) 
288) <li>
289) Help do other things so we can do the hard stuff. Please take a moment
290) to figure out what your skills and interests are, and then <a href="<page
291) volunteer>">look at our volunteer page</a>.
292) </li>
293) 
294) <li>
295) Help find sponsors for Tor. Do you work at a company or government agency
296) that uses Tor or has a use for Internet privacy, e.g. to browse the
297) competition's websites discreetly, or to connect back to the home servers
298) when on the road without revealing affiliations? If your organization has
299) an interest in keeping the Tor network working, please contact them about
300) supporting Tor. Without sponsors, Tor is going to become even slower.
301) </li>
302) 
303) <li>
304) If you can't help out with any of the above, you can still help out
305) individually by <a href="<page donate>">donating a bit of money to the
306) cause</a>. It adds up!
307) </li>
308) 
309) </ul>
310) 
311) <a id="Funding"></a>
312) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#Funding">What would the Tor project do with
313) more funding?</a></h3>
314) 
315) <p>
316) We have about 1500 relays right now, pushing over 150 MB/s average
317) traffic. We have several hundred thousand active users. But the Tor
318) network is not yet self-sustaining.
319) </p>
320) 
321) <p>
322) There are six main development/maintenance pushes that need attention:
323) </p>
324) 
325) <ul>
326) 
327) <li>
328) Scalability: We need to keep scaling and decentralizing the Tor
329) architecture so it can handle thousands of relays and millions of
330) users. The upcoming stable release is a major improvement, but there's
331) lots more to be done next in terms of keeping Tor fast and stable.
332) </li>
333) 
334) <li>
335) User support: With this many users, a lot of people are asking questions
336) all the time, offering to help out with things, and so on. We need good
337) clean docs, and we need to spend some effort coordinating volunteers.
338) </li>
339) 
340) <li>
341) Relay support: the Tor network is run by volunteers, but they still need
342) attention with prompt bug fixes, explanations when things go wrong,
343) reminders to upgrade, and so on. The network itself is a commons, and
344) somebody needs to spend some energy making sure the relay operators stay
345) happy. We also need to work on <a href="#RelayOS">stability</a> on some
346) platforms &mdash; e.g., Tor relays have problems on Win XP currently.
347) </li>
348) 
349) <li>
350) Usability: Beyond documentation, we also need to work on usability of the
351) software itself. This includes installers, clean GUIs, easy configuration
352) to interface with other applications, and generally automating all of
353) the difficult and confusing steps inside Tor. We've got a start on this
354) with the <a href="<page gui/index>">GUI Contest</a>, but much more work
355) remains &mdash; usability for privacy software has never been easy.
356) </li>
357) 
358) <li>
359) Incentives: We need to work on ways to encourage people to configure
360) their Tors as relays and exit nodes rather than just clients.
361) <a href="#EverybodyARelay">We need to make it easy to become a relay,
362) and we need to give people incentives to do it.</a>
363) </li>
364) 
365) <li>
366) Research: The anonymous communications field is full
367) of surprises and gotchas. In our copious free time, we
368) also help run top anonymity and privacy conferences like <a
369) href="http://petsymposium.org/">PETS</a>. We've identified a set of
370) critical <a href="<page volunteer>#Research">Tor research questions</a>
371) that will help us figure out how to make Tor secure against the variety of
372) attacks out there. Of course, there are more research questions waiting
373) behind these.
374) </li>
375) 
376) </ul>
377) 
378) <p>
379) We're continuing to move forward on all of these, but at this rate
380) <a href="#WhySlow">the Tor network is growing faster than the developers
381) can keep up</a>.
382) Now would be an excellent time to add a few more developers to the effort
383) so we can continue to grow the network.
384) </p>
385) 
386) <p>
387) We are also excited about tackling related problems, such as
388) censorship-resistance.
389) </p>
390) 
391) <p>
392) We are proud to have <a href="<page sponsors>">sponsorship and support</a>
393) from the Omidyar Network, the International Broadcasting Bureau, Bell
394) Security Solutions, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, several government
395) agencies and research groups, and hundreds of private contributors.
396) </p>
397) 
398) <p>
399) However, this support is not enough to keep Tor abreast of changes in the
400) Internet privacy landscape. Please <a href="<page donate>">donate</a>
401) to the project, or <a href="<page contact>">contact</a> our executive
402) director for information on making grants or major donations.
403) </p>
404) 
405) 
406) <hr />
407) 
408) <a id="question"></a>
409) <h3><a class="anchor" href="#question">Question?</a></h3>

410) 
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