gui-contest.html (fe4cab150) - tor-webwml.git

fe4cab1501af4b74a4980720e5e093f36f63b4bb

first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	1) <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" 2) "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> 3) 4) <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en"> 5) <head> 6) <title>Tor GUI Contest</title> 7) <meta name="Author" content="Roger Dingledine" /> 8) <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> 9) <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="stylesheet.css" /> 10) <link rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon" href="/favicon.ico" /> 11) </head> 12) 13) <body> 14) 15) <!-- TITLE BAR & NAVIGATION --> 16) 17) <table class="banner" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> 18) <tr> 19) <td class="banner-left"></td> 20) <td class="banner-middle"> 21) <a href="index.html">Home</a> 22) \| <a href="howitworks.html">How It Works</a> 23) \| <a href="download.html">Download</a> 24) \| <a href="documentation.html">Docs</a> 25) \| <a href="users.html">Users</a> 26) \| <a href="faq.html">FAQs</a>
call it Volunteer in the na... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`27) \| <a href="volunteer.html">Volunteer</a>`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	28) \| <a href="developers.html">Developers</a> 29) \| <a href="research.html">Research</a> 30) \| <a href="people.html">People</a> 31) </td> 32) <td class="banner-right"></td> 33) </tr> 34) </table> 35) 36) <!-- END TITLE BAR & NAVIGATION --> 37) 38) <div class="center"> 39) 40) <div class="main-column"> 41) 42) <h2>Tor GUI Contest</h2> 43) <hr /> 44) <p>DRAFT IN PROGRESS -- ALL OF THIS STUFF IS IN FLUX AND SHOULD BE 45) CONSIDERED WRONG.</p> 46) <hr /> 47) <h3>Overview</h3> 48) 49) <p> 50) Tor is a decentralized network of computers on the Internet that increases 51) privacy in Web browsing, instant messaging, and other applications. We
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`52) estimate there are some 50,000 Tor users currently, routing their traffic 53) through about 250 volunteer Tor servers on five continents. However, Tor's`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`54) current user interface approach --- running as a daemon in the background 55) --- does a poor job of communicating network status and security levels`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`56) to the user. 57) 58) The Tor project, affiliated with the`
if they deserve a link, the... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`59) <a href="http://www.eff.org/">Electronic Frontier Foundation</a>, is`
EFF deserves a link Thomas Sjögren authored 19 years ago	`60) running a UI contest to develop a vision of how Tor can`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`61) work in a user's everyday anonymous browsing experience. Some of the 62) challenges include how to make alerts and error conditions visible on`
cleanups from chris and seth Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`63) screen; how to let the user configure Tor to use or avoid certain routes 64) or nodes; how to learn about the current state of a Tor connection,`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`65) including which servers it uses; and how to find out whether (and which) 66) applications are using Tor safely. 67) </p> 68) 69) <hr /> 70) <h3>Goals</h3> 71)`
cleanups from chris and seth Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`72) <p>Contestants will produce a work of <a`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`73) href="http://www.fsf.org/licensing/essays/free-sw.html">Free Software</a>`
cleanups from chris and seth Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`74) that will`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`75) provide a user interface to the Tor system by way of the <a 76) href="http://tor.eff.org/cvs/tor/doc/control-spec.txt">Tor Controller 77) Protocol</a>.</p> 78) 79) <p>We are looking for a vision of how Tor can work in a user's everyday 80) anonymous browsing experience.</p> 81) 82) <p>Successful entries will:</p> 83) <ul>`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`84) <li>Allow the user to fully configure Tor without directly searching 85) for and opening text files.</li>`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`86) <li>Learn about the current state of their Tor connection (including 87) which servers they are connected to, and how many of them), and find`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`88) out whether any of their applications are using it.</li>`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`89) <li>Make alerts and error conditions visible on screen.</li>`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`90) <li>Run on at least one of Windows, Linux, and OS X, on a`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`91) not-unusually-configured consumer-level machine.</li> 92) </ul> 93)`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`94) <p>In addition, it may:</p> 95) <ul> 96) <li>Provide detailed information about which`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`97) applications, ports, or packets are (or are not!) passing through Tor,`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`98) including accounting for both Tor- and non-Tor traffic</li> 99) <li>Provide 100) additional statistics about the Tor connection.</li> 101) </ul>`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`102)`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`103) <p>including:</p>`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`104) <ul> 105) <li>How much bandwidth am I using?</li> 106) <li>What servers do I know about on the network? Where are they? How 107) available are they?</li>`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`108) <li>Provide an interface for controlling Tor paths: "show me`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`109) the network from Africa by way of Asia". Think of the global satellite 110) map from the movie <i>Sneakers</i>.</li> 111) <li>Configure other running applications to use Tor (for example, 112) by modifying or working through the network stack, and/or by altering 113) application configurations).</li>`
cleanups from chris and seth Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`114) <li>Provide an elegant installer for Tor, the GUI application, and 115) other supporting applications.</li>`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`116) <li>Provide meaningful defaults for a good Tor experience.</li>`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`117) <li>Provide application-level anonymity -- that is, not just paying`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`118) attention to transport anonymity on the level of Tor, but also paying 119) attention to the anonymity of the http headers, cookies, etc.</li> 120) </ul> 121) 122) <hr /> 123) <h3>Contest categories</h3> 124)`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	125) <p> 126) The design contest will proceed in two stages: first sketches and 127) then code. For each stage, our panel of judges will recognize the best 128) submissions. All qualifying entries will receive an EFF Tor t-shirt, 129) subject to availability. The best functional implementations will be 130) published on the Tor website. 131) </p> 132) 133) <p><b>Sketches:</b> 134) the goal of this stage is to produce a mock-up of a functioning interface, 135) with graphical elements that can be used by programmers and design 136) documents describing how the interface should function.</p> 137) 138) <p> 139) A qualifying sketch will present an informal specification for a 140) design. That is, it will present with some degree of thoroughness all 141) of the major interfaces that we might expect to encounter, all of the 142) major functionality for the interface, and a reasonable story about 143) how it would be integrated into currently-existing tools (if, indeed, 144) it would be). An example, with more detail than we would require, is 145) <a href="http://ui.netbeans.org/docs/ui/junits/promo_f.html">the NetBeans 146) UI for JUnit</a>. Note that it walks through multiple interfaces, 147) highlighting the features and functions of the various buttons. 148) </p> 149) 150) <ul> 151) <li><b>Most featureful interface</b> will be awarded to the graphic design 152) that would provide usable, clear access to the most aspects of the Tor 153) system, covering many or most of the categories on the "additional" 154) list.</li> 155) <li><b>Most usable experience</b> will be awarded to the graphic 156) design that would provide the most unobtrusive Tor experience while still 157) covering all criteria (working, perhaps, on the "no news is good news" 158) theory).</li> 159) <li><b>Clearest implementation guidance</b> will be awarded to the 160) graphic design that provides the cleanest package of graphic elements 161) and design documentation to aid would-be implementers.</li> 162) </ul> 163) 164) <p><b>Code:</b> the goal of this stage is to produce a working 165) implementation. You may use any of the sketches, graphics, or ideas from 166) the first stage.</p> 167) 168) <p> 169) An acceptable entry will be a package of free software that builds and 170) runs. It can be a standalone application, or it can act as an extension 171) or plugin to other broadly-available free software. The entry will 172) demonstrate the points in the judging section: that is, it will be able 173) to control, display, and maintain awareness as discussed above. 174) </p> 175) 176) <ul> 177) <li><b>Most featureful interface</b> will be awarded to the application 178) that provides usable, clear access to the most aspects of the Tor system, 179) covering many or most of the categories on the "additional" list.</li> 180) <li><b>Most usable experience</b> will be awarded to the 181) application that provides the most unobtrusive Tor experience while 182) still covering all criteria (working, perhaps, on the "no news is good 183) news" theory).</li> 184) <li><b>Most flexible</b> will be awarded to the best system that runs 185) smoothly on all three of Windows, Linux, and OS X; extra points will be 186) awarded for additional systems.</li> 187) </ul> 188) 189) <p>We reserve the right to award other awards as the entries deserve.</p> 190) 191) <hr /> 192) <h3>How to Submit</h3> 193) 194) <p>Submissions for phase one (sketches) should come as:</p>
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`195) <ul>`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`196) <li>foo<li>`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`197) </ul> 198)`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	199) <p>Submissions for phase two (code) should come as:</p> 200) 201) <ul> 202) <li>Source code, with appropriate makefiles or documentation explaining 203) how to build it. Must be licensed under a free/open source license, as 204) defined by <a href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/">OSI</a> or <a 205) href="http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines">DFSG</a>. See <a 206) href="http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/ContestFAQ#DefineFree">this 207) FAQ entry</a> for clarification.</li> 208) <li>Compiled binaries or bytecodes for at least one platform of choice.</li> 209) <li>A design document providing an overview of what major functions 210) to look for and what functions were implemented.</li> 211) </ul>
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`212) 213) <hr />`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`214) <h3>Criteria</h3>`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`215) 216) <p>Awards will be granted on the basis of (in rough preference order):</p> 217) 218) <ul> 219) <li>Usability (<a 220) href="http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/ContestFAQ#DefineUsable">what 221) does this mean?</a>)</li>`
tweaks suggested by adam sh... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`222) <li>Informativeness: can the user learn what they need to know, both in terms 223) of using the network and also in terms of security decisions?</li>`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`224) <li>Total user experience</li> 225) <li>Aesthetics</li> 226) <li>Responsiveness</li> 227) <li>Stability and robustness</li>`
tweaks suggested by adam sh... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`228) <li>Internationalization (multiple language support)</li>`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`229) <li>Installation experience</li> 230) </ul> 231)`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	232) <hr /> 233) <h3>Judges</h3> 234) 235) <p>Judging will be led by a panel of N prominent specialists in usability 236) and security (to be announced).</p> 237) 238) <hr /> 239) <h3>Timeline</h3> 240) 241) <ul> 242) <li>Stage 1 deadline (sketches): October 31.</li> 243) <li>Stage 1 judging: November 31.</li> 244) <li>Stage 2 deadline (code): January 31, 2006.</li> 245) 246) <p>Winners will be announced at the SOUPS 2006 conference.</p> 247) 248) <hr /> 249) <h3>Questions and clarifications</h3> 250) 251) <p>We will have a public website and wiki up shortly for FAQ entries, 252) clarifications, etc.</p> 253) 254) 255) 256) 257) 258) <hr />
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	259) <hr /> 260) <h3>Testing criteria</h3> 261) 262) <p>To check for basic acceptability, the contest will be judged 263) with several major tests. For example, the system designer should expect:</p> 264) 265) <ul> 266) <li>A minimal test: does it work?</li> 267) <li>Several parameters, both obscure and obvious, will be configured. Is 268) it possible and easy to do so?</li> 269) <li>A network will be connected once the system is running. Can the 270) user tell that the network is now live?</li> 271) <li>The network will be disconnected or interrupted. Can the user tell 272) that the network has an error?</li> 273) </ul> 274) 275) <hr /> 276) <h3>Submissions</h3> 277) 278) <hr />
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`279) <h3>Technical Notes</h3>`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`280)`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`281) <p>Shortly before phase two begins, the Tor developers will release 282) a canonical code version. This is the version that will be used for 283) judging the contest; please ensure that you use this version. Bugfixes 284) to this version will be announced to the contest web site.</p>`
first draft cut of the gui... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`285)`
work in some of the gui con... Roger Dingledine authored 19 years ago	`286) <p>The Tor developers will also release test rigs (libraries) in both Java 287) and Python that demonstrate Tor's controller protocol. Code submissions 288) may be able to save a lot of time by using this code as a skeleton.</p>`