Metrics
=======
- Tails has been started more than 205 802 times in November.
This make 6 860 boots a day in average.
- 6 270 downloads of the OpenPGP signature of Tails ISO.
- 80 reports were received through WhisperBack.
Code
====
Some of the newest contributors were particularly active this month:
- We have a new and active maintainer for I2P in Tails. Big up to Kytv!
So I2P was updated to 0.9.8.1, and the I2P configuration and integration
was improved in several ways.
https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=feature%2Fi2p%2D0%2E9%2E8%2E1
- SCIM was replaced by IBus as input method to fix internationalization
issues in Tails Greeter (Closes 6206). Thanks to WinterFairy!
http://git.tails.boum.org/winterfairy/tails/log/?h=bugfix/ibus
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6206
- Kevin C. Krinke has been actively working on a replacement of the
clock with configurable timezone. Many thanks!
http://kevin.c.krinke.ca/builds/tailsclock
- A script has been written to automate the importation process of
completed translations from Transifex. Thanks to WinterFairy!
https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=feature%2Fimport%2Dtranslations
- The keyboard selection for some languages in Tails Greeter was fixed.
Closes 5741. Again thanks to WinterFairy!
http://git.tails.boum.org/greeter/log/?h=bugfix/5469-default-country-and-translation
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/5741
We kept on working on some major features, some are about to be released:
- The real-world deployment of incremental updates has been made ready
for beta testing and will be the default way to upgrade Tails, on
point-releases at least.
https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=feature%2Fincremental%2Dupgrades
- The second round of upgrade towards a safer persistence was prepared.
- A lot of work has been done towards MAC spoofing. See the latest of
our design.
https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=feature%2Fspoof%2Dmac
https://tails.boum.org/blueprint/macchanger/
- The migration to Firefox 24 and Torbutton 1.6 was completed (Closes
6370 and 6371).
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6370
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6371
Regarding security:
- The serious security upgrade to NSS 3.15.3 was prepared but we
unfortunately didn't have time to make a point release just for that.
See CVE-2013-1741, CVE-2013-5605 and CVE-2013-5606.
- More IP and MAC addresses are sanitized in WhisperBack reports (Closes
6391).
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/6391
Regarding user experience:
- DPMS screen blanking has been disabled (Closes 5617).
https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=bugfix%2Fdisable%2Ddpms
https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/5617
- The default system partition size is now 2.5GB.
https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=feature%2Fbigger%2Dsystem%2Dpartition
- The bug that prevented Vidalia to show up sometimes was fixed.
https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=bugfix%2Fvidalia%5Ffails%5Fto%5Fstart
And also:
- Tails now have its own shell and perl libraries where we factorize
some of our code.
https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/plain/config%2Fchroot%5Flocal%2Dincludes%2Fusr%2Flocal%2Flib%2Ftails%2Dshell%2Dlibrary
https://git-tails.immerda.ch/perl5lib
- Upgrade to Linux 3.11 and got back to Linux 3.10 because 3.11 breaks
the shutdown process on some hardware.
- Uploaded a few packages and backports we need into Debian.
- Tails Installer does not fail anymore if the `tmp` directory exists on
the destination filesystem.
https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=bugfix%2Fdont%2Dfail%2Dupgrade%2Dif%2Dtmp%2Ddir%2Dexists%2Don%2Ddestination
Documentation and website
=========================
- A draft FAQ was create to answer some questions asked on our previous
forum.
https://tails.boum.org/blueprint/faq/
https://tails.boum.org/forum/
- A calendar was created to centralize all the important dates for the
community.
https://tails.boum.org/contribute/calendar/
- A glossary was created on the website to define terms specific to our
process.
https://tails.boum.org/contribute/glossary/
- The roles on the Contribute page were described.
https://tails.boum.org/contribute/index.en.html
- Two new contribution pages were added: graphics and user_interface.
https://tails.boum.org/contribute/how/graphics/
https://tails.boum.org/contribute/how/user_interface/
- Instructions to change the persistence passphrase were drafted.
https://git-tails.immerda.ch/tails/log/?h=doc%2Fchange%5Fpersistence%5Fpassphrase
- The release schedule was updated to match current practice more closely.
https://tails.boum.org/contribute/release_schedule/
- The documentation for translators now points to Git tutorials.
https://tails.boum.org/contribute/how/translate/
Infrastructure
==============
- We have organized donations of UEFI hardware, and purchased some more.
- Recovered from disk breakage on our main server.
- Surveyed operators of HTTP mirrors for SNI availability. The results
look good, next step is to get a certificate for `dl.amnesia.boum.org`.
On-going discussions
====================
- 2.0 milestone += supporting USB devices exposed as non-removable?
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-November/003999.html
- Tor Launcher extension
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-November/004011.html
- WhisperBack launcher should give a hint on its use
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-November/004295.html
- Glossary for contributors
https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2013-November/004353.html
Funding
=======
- ThinkPenguin.com donated hardware for us to investigate on UEFI
support. Many thanks!
- We have been working on a proposal with sponsor Golf.
Outreach
========
- We submitted a talk for 30C3 but it was rejected.
- 2013-11-28: Helping Human Rights Defenders to Communicate Securely:
TAILS, National Democratic Institute, USA at the World Forum for
Democracy
http://www.coe.int/en/web/world-forum-democracy/lab4_
Press and testimonials
======================
- 2013-11: The German-speaking ADMIN magazine reviews Tails.
http://www.admin-magazin.de/Das-Heft/2013/11/Tails-0.20
--
Tails folks
