Tails report for October, 2013
Releases
========
Tails 0.21 was released on October 29.
<
https://tails.boum.org/news/version_0.21>
Tails 0.22 is scheduled for December 11.
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-September/003718.html>
Metrics
=======
- Tails has been started more than 189 979 times in October.
This makes a boot every 14 seconds on average.
- 15 226 downloads of the OpenPGP signature of Tails ISO.
- 86 reports were received through WhisperBack.
Code
====
- Andres Gomez Ramirez proposed an
initial patch to warn when caps-lock in on in the Greeter.
<
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/5917>
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003810.html>
- We had a low-hanging fruits session on October 12 and malaparte
couldn't stop in the end :)
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003860.html>
- Some issues were fixed for the migration to Tails Wheezy.
<
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6015>
- The branch for SD cards support wired via SDIO was merged.
<
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6324>
- Some initial work to build Tails with vagrant-libvirt was done
blueprint.
<
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6212>
- A branch to use stronger ciphers in GnuPG was prepared
and merged.
- Kevin C. Krinke is working on a clock applet that
allows displays local time, while keeping UTC as the
system timezone.
<
https://git-tails.immerda.ch/kevin/clock/>
- test/fix-detection-of-used-display branch was merged.
- feature/Debian-proposed-updates branch was merged,
and reverted after the Squeeze point-release was out.
- Tails now uses the same custom Startpage URL as the TBB.
<
http://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=feature/same-startpage-custom-url-as-tbb>
- The ikiwiki setup was simplified.
<
http://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=feature/simplify_ikiwiki_setup>
- Some fixes to the persistent printers feature were prepared
and merged.
- A web browser resizing bug was partially fixed
<
https://git-tails.immerda.ch/torbutton/tag/?id=debian/1.5.2-2>
<
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6377>
- Now installing Linux 3.10.x from Debian testing.
<
http://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=feature/linux-3.10-1>
- The security/vidalia_in_its_own_user branch to run Vidalia as its own
user was polished and merged. Too bad nobody detected at RC stage the
regression it brought, that made its way into Tails 0.21. Did we
mention you should test our release candidates?
- The branch feature/consistent-peristence-path to have a consistent
path to the persistent volume mountpoint was polished and merged.
<
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/5854>
- The work towards MAC spoofing went on.
- Various regressions detected in 0.21~rc1 were fixed in time for the
0.21 final release. Not all, unfortunately.
- Some initial work was done towards the migration to Torbutton 1.6.x
and Firefox 24
<
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6371>
<
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6370>
- A plan was proposed to fix OTR protocol
downgrade in Debian Squeeze and Wheezy.
- Some build-dependencies for Tails software were uploaded to Debian,
and accepted:
libdist-zilla-plugin-test-notabs-perl,
libdist-zilla-plugin-test-perl-critic-perl and
libdist-zilla-plugin-installguide-perl.
- An initscript for Tahoe-LAFS has been written.
- killyourtv volunteered to maintain I2P in Tails.
- Incremental updates were worked on.
- bilibop 0.4.17, 0.4.17~bpo70+1, 0.4.18 and 0.4.19 were
uploaded to Debian.
- mat 0.4-1 and 0.4.2-1 were uploaded to Debian.
- A few patches for AppArmor profiles were submitted upstream.
Documentation and website
=========================
- The contribute section was significantly improved.
More is coming.
<https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6165>
- The bug reporting workflow was improved.
<http://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=doc/improve_bug_reporting_workflow>
- The first round of cleaning the forum is over!
<https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003910.html>.
- The Front Desk role was documented.
<https://tails.boum.org/contribute/working_together/roles/front_desk/>
- Public meetings notes are now online.
<https://tails.boum.org/contribute/meetings/>
- Drafts were proposed to:
* point to newbie-friendly Git documentation
<https://git-tails.immerda.ch/mercedes508/tails/log/?h=doc/newbie_git_doc_links>
- Documentation was added to explain:
* that (almost any) additional software cannot connect without Tor;
<https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/persistence/configure>
* why Tor is slow
<https://tails.boum.org/doc/anonymous_internet/why_tor_is_slow>
<https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/5641>
* how to make Claws Mail persistence cover email retrieved over POP3;
<https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/persistence/configure>
* that OpenPGP keyring can be made persistent
<https://git-tails.immerda.ch/mercedes508/tails/log/?h=doc/gpgapplet_gnupg_persistence>
in the OpenPGP applet documentation
<https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6332>
* how to use a virtual keyboard
<https://tails.boum.org/doc/encryption_and_privacy/virtual_keyboard>
- Some logo proposals were sent by
Andrew Pilkington from Picasso Fish.
<https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/5797>
- A new team proposed to maintain the translation in German
<https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-l10n/2013-October/000718.html>
Infrastructure
==============
- A pbuilder chroot to build Iceweasel 24 was prepared.
- A donation of UEFI hardware was proposed by
ThinkPenguin.com and should be
finalized soon. Thank you!
<
https://www.thinkpenguin.com/>
- We now have a bot on IRC that displays the description of mentioned
tickets. Thank you, weasel!
- All our tickets were looked at and triaged.
On-going discussions
====================
- Adding a clock applet
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003762.html>
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003992.html>
- MAC address spoofing
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003835.html>
- Installing caff or monkeysign
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003767.html>
<
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6338>
- The future of TrueCrypt implementations in Tails
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003790.html>
<
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6373>
- Bitcoin in Tails
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003773.html>
- uVirtus design
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003828.html>
- Making the system partition bigger
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003857.html>
- Timing of the move to FF24
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003885.html>
- Tor Launcher in Tails?
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003935.html>
- Using version instead of release in APT preferences?
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003972.html>
- Roles description for contribute section
<
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-October/003984.html>
Outreach
========
- A talk about Tails was held in Paris. Thanks to Stefano Zacchiroli
for organizing it, and to IRILL for hosting it!
<
http://www.irill.org/events/tails-confidentialite-et-anonymat-pour-tous-et-partout>
Funding
=======
- We have sent proposals to sponsors Echo and Hotel.
- We have been approached for a funding proposal by sponsor Golf.
- We read a lot and got in touch with various people to gather enough
information to decide if we're going to create a dedicated
non-profit organization for Tails, or use another existing one as
our fiscal sponsor.
Press and testimonials
======================
* 2013-10-15: CRYPTO-GRAM, October 15, 2013
Bruce Schneier: "One thing I didn't do, although it's worth
considering, is use a stateless operating system like Tails. You can
configure Tails with a persistent volume to save your data, but no
operating system changes are ever saved. Booting Tails from a
read-only DVD -- you can keep your data on an encrypted USB stick --
is even more secure. Of course, this is not foolproof, but it greatly
reduces the potential avenues for attack."
<
http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram-1310.html>
