Updating the FAQ
This commit is contained in:
Bob Mottram
parent
6d261c5ed4
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89e9c4e173
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@ -28,6 +28,14 @@
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* Why not supply a disk image download?
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Shipping a Freedombone disk image ready to install on a flash disk would be easy, but disk images are relatively opaque. It would be quite easy to hide something nasty within a disk image and the user might never know. To guard against that possibility installing via the *freedombone* command is a lot more transparent, since it's really just a bash script. You can check the script code to see exactly what it's doing, and the packages are all downloaded from standard Debian repos (you can even choose which one you trust) or git repos. Doing it this way the system is fully auditable, whereas when shipping a disk image it's harder to be confident that no nefarious extras have been added.
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* I don't have a static IP address. Can I still install this system?
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Yes. The minimum requirements are to have some hardware that you can install Debian onto and also that you have administrator access to your internet router so that you can forward ports to the system which has Freedombone installed.
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The lack of a static IP address can be worked around by using a dynamic DNS service. Freedombone uses [[http://troglobit.com/inadyn.html][inadyn]], which supports a variety of dynamic DNS providers.
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* What is the best hardware to run this system on?
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It was originally designed to run on the Beaglebone Black, but that should be regarded as the most minimal system, because it's single core and has by today's standards a small amount of memory. Obviously the more powerful the hardware is the faster things like web pages (blog, social networking, etc) will be served but the more electricity such a system will require if you're running it 24/7. A good compromise between performance and energy consumption is something like an old netbook. The battery of an old netbook or laptop even gives you [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply][UPS capability]] to keep the system going during brief power outages or cable re-arrangements, and that means using full disk encryption on the server also becomes more practical.
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/Out of fashion/ but still working computer hardware tends to be cheap and readily available, yet still good for providing internet services.
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* Can I add more users to the system?
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Like any other GNU/Linux system you can add more users. It's easy to add users to Owncloud, XMPP or RedMatrix. However, Freedombone is designed primarily to be a single user system (i.e. a personal server) and if there are multiple users then the number of them is expected to be small - perhaps five or less. Freedombone is not intended to be "/web scale/" in terms of supporting tens or hundreds of users on a single server. Instead, each server can host a small number of users and then the servers federate together as a network of peers.
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* How do I reset the tripwire?
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@ -162,12 +170,10 @@ service exim4 restart
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You should now be able to send an email from /postmaster@mynewdomainname/ and it should arrive in your inbox.
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* How do I get a "real" SSL certificate?
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You can obtain a free "official" (as in recognised by default by web browsers) SSL certificate from [[https://www.startssl.com/][StartSSL]]. You will first need to have bought a domain name, since it's not possible to obtain one for a freedns subdomain, so see [[Using your own domain]] for details of how to do that. You should also have tested that you can send email to the domain and receive it on the Freedombone (via Mutt or any other email client).
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You can obtain a free "official" (as in recognised by default by web browsers) SSL certificate from [[https://www.startssl.com/][StartSSL]]. You will first need to have bought a domain name, since it's not possible to obtain one for a freedns subdomain, so see [[How do I get a domain name?][Using your own domain]] for details of how to do that. You should also have tested that you can send email to the domain and receive it on the Freedombone (via Mutt or any other email client).
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When creating a SSL certificate it's important that the private key (the private component of the public/private pair in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-key_cryptography][public key cryptography]]) be generated on the Freedombone /and remain there/. Don't generate the private key via the StartSSL certificate wizard because this means that potentially they may retain a copy of it which could then be exfiltrated either via [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavabit][Lavabit]] style methodology, "implants", compromised sysadmins or other "side channel" methods. So that the private key isn't broadcast on the internet we can instead generate a certificate request, which is really just a request for authorisation of a public key.
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Firstly you should have a web server site configuration ready to go. See [[Setting up a web site]] for details.
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Within StartSSL under the validations wizard validate your domain, which means sending an email to it and confirming a code.
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Now we can generate the certificate request as follows.
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@ -282,7 +288,7 @@ Before changing any certificates it's a good idea to make a backup of the existi
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Make sure that you have the StartSSL certificate which was created when you initially made an account. You did save it somewhere safe, didn't you? If it's not installed into your browser then in Firefox go to *Menu/Preferences/Advanced/View Certificates*. Make sure the "*Your Cerificates*" tab is selected and click "*import*", then import the StartSSL certificate.
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Now go to [[startssl.com]] and click on the keys icon on the right hand side to log in. Select the *Control panel* then *Validations Wizard* and choose *Email address validation*. Enter your email address, then wait for the validation email to show up in your inbox. It will contain a code when you can then enter.
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Now go to [[https://startssl.com][startssl.com]] and click on the keys icon on the right hand side to log in. Select the *Control panel* then *Validations Wizard* and choose *Email address validation*. Enter your email address, then wait for the validation email to show up in your inbox. It will contain a code when you can then enter.
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Once your email is validated then go to *Validations Wizard* and choose *Domain name validation*. Enter your domain name and select *postmaster@yourdomainname*. After a while you should receive a validation email and you can then enter the code.
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@ -4,16 +4,22 @@
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
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<head>
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<title></title>
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<!-- 2015-04-04 Sat 12:08 -->
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<!-- 2015-07-10 Fri 10:30 -->
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" />
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<meta name="generator" content="Org-mode" />
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<meta name="author" content="Bob Mottram" />
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<meta name="description" content="Turn the Beaglebone Black into a personal communications server"
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/>
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<meta name="keywords" content="freedombox, debian, beaglebone, red matrix, email, web server, home server, internet, censorship, surveillance, social network, irc, jabber" />
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<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
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<style type="text/css">
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<!--/*--><![CDATA[/*><!--*/
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.title { text-align: center; }
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.title { text-align: center;
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margin-bottom: .2em; }
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.subtitle { text-align: center;
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font-size: medium;
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font-weight: bold;
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margin-top:0; }
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.todo { font-family: monospace; color: red; }
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.done { font-family: monospace; color: green; }
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.priority { font-family: monospace; color: orange; }
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@ -21,9 +27,9 @@
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padding: 2px; font-size: 80%; font-weight: normal; }
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.timestamp { color: #bebebe; }
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.timestamp-kwd { color: #5f9ea0; }
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.right { margin-left: auto; margin-right: 0px; text-align: right; }
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.left { margin-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; text-align: left; }
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.center { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; }
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.org-right { margin-left: auto; margin-right: 0px; text-align: right; }
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.org-left { margin-left: 0px; margin-right: auto; text-align: left; }
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.org-center { margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; }
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.underline { text-decoration: underline; }
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#postamble p, #preamble p { font-size: 90%; margin: .2em; }
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p.verse { margin-left: 3%; }
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@ -62,12 +68,12 @@
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caption.t-above { caption-side: top; }
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caption.t-bottom { caption-side: bottom; }
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td, th { vertical-align:top; }
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th.right { text-align: center; }
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th.left { text-align: center; }
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th.center { text-align: center; }
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td.right { text-align: right; }
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td.left { text-align: left; }
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td.center { text-align: center; }
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th.org-right { text-align: center; }
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th.org-left { text-align: center; }
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th.org-center { text-align: center; }
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td.org-right { text-align: right; }
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td.org-left { text-align: left; }
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td.org-center { text-align: center; }
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dt { font-weight: bold; }
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.footpara:nth-child(2) { display: inline; }
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.footpara { display: block; }
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@ -148,7 +154,6 @@ for the JavaScript code in this tag.
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<a name="top" id="top"></a>
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</div>
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<div id="content">
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<h1 class="title"></h1>
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<div class="center">
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<div class="figure">
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@ -162,87 +167,111 @@ for the JavaScript code in this tag.
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<colgroup>
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<col class="left" />
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<col class="org-left" />
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</colgroup>
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<tbody>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="index.html">Home</a></td>
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<td class="org-left"><a href="index.html">Home</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-1">Why not supply a disk image download?</a></td>
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<td class="org-left"><a href="#orgheadline1">Why not supply a disk image download?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-2">Can I add more users to the system?</a></td>
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<td class="org-left"><a href="#orgheadline2">Can I add more users to the system?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-3">How do I reset the tripwire?</a></td>
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<td class="org-left"><a href="#orgheadline3">How do I reset the tripwire?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-4">Is metadata protected?</a></td>
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<td class="org-left"><a href="#orgheadline4">Is metadata protected?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-5">How do I create email processing rules?</a></td>
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<td class="org-left"><a href="#orgheadline5">How do I create email processing rules?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-6">Why isn't dynamic DNS working?</a></td>
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<td class="org-left"><a href="#orgheadline6">Why isn't dynamic DNS working?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-7">How do I change my encryption settings?</a></td>
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<td class="org-left"><a href="#orgheadline7">How do I change my encryption settings?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-8">How do I get a domain name?</a></td>
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<td class="org-left"><a href="#orgheadline8">How do I get a domain name?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-9">How do I get a "real" SSL certificate?</a></td>
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<td class="org-left"><a href="#orgheadline9">How do I get a "real" SSL certificate?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-10">How do I renew a StartSSL certificate?</a></td>
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<td class="org-left"><a href="#orgheadline10">How do I renew a StartSSL certificate?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-11">Why use self-signed certificates?</a></td>
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<td class="org-left"><a href="#orgheadline11">Why use self-signed certificates?</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-12">Why not use the services of $company instead? They took the Seppuku pledge</a></td>
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<td class="org-left"><a href="#orgheadline12">Why not use the services of $company instead? They took the Seppuku pledge</a></td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left"><a href="#unnumbered-13">Why does my email keep getting rejected as spam by Gmail/etc?</a></td>
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<td class="org-left"><a href="#orgheadline13">Why does my email keep getting rejected as spam by Gmail/etc?</a></td>
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</tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-1" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-1">Why not supply a disk image download?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-1">
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<div id="outline-container-orgheadline1" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="orgheadline1">Why not supply a disk image download?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline1">
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<p>
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Shipping a Freedombone disk image ready to install on a flash disk would be easy, but disk images are relatively opaque. It would be quite easy to hide something nasty within a disk image and the user might never know. To guard against that possibility installing via the <b>freedombone</b> command is a lot more transparent, since it's really just a bash script. You can check the script code to see exactly what it's doing, and the packages are all downloaded from standard Debian repos (you can even choose which one you trust) or git repos. Doing it this way the system is fully auditable, whereas when shipping a disk image it's harder to be confident that no nefarious extras have been added.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-2" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-2">Can I add more users to the system?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-2">
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<div id="outline-container-orgheadline14" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="orgheadline14">I don't have a static IP address. Can I still install this system?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline14">
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<p>
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Yes. The minimum requirements are to have some hardware that you can install Debian onto and also that you have administrator access to your internet router so that you can forward ports to the system which has Freedombone installed.
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</p>
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<p>
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The lack of a static IP address can be worked around by using a dynamic DNS service. Freedombone uses <a href="http://troglobit.com/inadyn.html">inadyn</a>, which supports a variety of dynamic DNS providers.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-orgheadline15" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="orgheadline15">What is the best hardware to run this system on?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline15">
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<p>
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It was originally designed to run on the Beaglebone Black, but that should be regarded as the most minimal system, because it's single core and has by today's standards a small amount of memory. Obviously the more powerful the hardware is the faster things like web pages (blog, social networking, etc) will be served but the more electricity such a system will require if you're running it 24/7. A good compromise between performance and energy consumption is something like an old netbook. The battery of an old netbook or laptop even gives you <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply">UPS capability</a> to keep the system going during brief power outages or cable re-arrangements, and that means using full disk encryption on the server also becomes more practical.
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</p>
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<p>
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<i>Out of fashion</i> but still working computer hardware tends to be cheap and readily available, yet still good for providing internet services.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-orgheadline2" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="orgheadline2">Can I add more users to the system?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline2">
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<p>
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Like any other GNU/Linux system you can add more users. It's easy to add users to Owncloud, XMPP or RedMatrix. However, Freedombone is designed primarily to be a single user system (i.e. a personal server) and if there are multiple users then the number of them is expected to be small - perhaps five or less. Freedombone is not intended to be "<i>web scale</i>" in terms of supporting tens or hundreds of users on a single server. Instead, each server can host a small number of users and then the servers federate together as a network of peers.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-3" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-3">How do I reset the tripwire?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-3">
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<div id="outline-container-orgheadline3" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="orgheadline3">How do I reset the tripwire?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline3">
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<p>
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You will get a daily email which indicates which files on the system have changed recently. Once per week the system will install any updates and those may also show up on the list, along with any changes due to installed packages or changed settings. Watch out for any files which change unexpectedly, which could indicate an intruder. To reset the tripwire:
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</p>
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@ -260,17 +289,17 @@ You will need to press enter a couple of times. Doing this typically once per we
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-4" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-4">Is metadata protected?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-4">
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<div id="outline-container-orgheadline4" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="orgheadline4">Is metadata protected?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline4">
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<p>
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Even when using Freedombone metadata analysis by third parties is still possible. They might have a much harder time knowing what the content is, but they can potentially construct extensive dossiers based upon who communicated with your server when. Metadata leakage is a general problem with most current web systems and it is hoped that more secure technology will become available in future. But for now if metadata protection is your main concern using Freedombone won't help.
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</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-5" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="unnumbered-5">How do I create email processing rules?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-5">
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<div id="outline-container-orgheadline5" class="outline-2">
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<h2 id="orgheadline5">How do I create email processing rules?</h2>
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<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline5">
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<p>
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You can administer email in the traditional manner by editing folders or procmail rules, but for convenience some commands are available to make that process simpler. See the relevant manpages for more details.
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</p>
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@ -279,39 +308,39 @@ You can administer email in the traditional manner by editing folders or procmai
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<colgroup>
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<col class="left" />
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<col class="org-left" />
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<col class="left" />
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<col class="org-left" />
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</colgroup>
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<tbody>
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<tr>
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<td class="left">freedombone-addlist</td>
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<td class="left">Adds a mailing list</td>
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<td class="org-left">freedombone-addlist</td>
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<td class="org-left">Adds a mailing list</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left">freedombone-rmlist</td>
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<td class="left">Removes a mailing list</td>
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<td class="org-left">freedombone-rmlist</td>
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<td class="org-left">Removes a mailing list</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left">freedombone-addemail</td>
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<td class="left">Transfers emails from an address to a given folder</td>
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<td class="org-left">freedombone-addemail</td>
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<td class="org-left">Transfers emails from an address to a given folder</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left">freedombone-rmemail</td>
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<td class="left">Removes an email transferal rule</td>
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<td class="org-left">freedombone-rmemail</td>
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<td class="org-left">Removes an email transferal rule</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left">freedombone-ignore</td>
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<td class="left">Ignores email from an address or with a subject line containing text</td>
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<td class="org-left">freedombone-ignore</td>
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<td class="org-left">Ignores email from an address or with a subject line containing text</td>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td class="left">freedombone-unignore</td>
|
||||
<td class="left">Removes an ignore rule</td>
|
||||
<td class="org-left">freedombone-unignore</td>
|
||||
<td class="org-left">Removes an ignore rule</td>
|
||||
</tr>
|
||||
</tbody>
|
||||
</table>
|
||||
|
|
@ -321,9 +350,9 @@ Spamassassin is also available and within Mutt you can use the S (shift+s) key t
|
|||
</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-6" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="unnumbered-6">Why isn't dynamic DNS working?</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-6">
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-orgheadline6" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="orgheadline6">Why isn't dynamic DNS working?</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline6">
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
If you run the command:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -391,9 +420,9 @@ http://httpbin.org/ip
|
|||
</div>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-7" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="unnumbered-7">How do I change my encryption settings?</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-7">
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-orgheadline7" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="orgheadline7">How do I change my encryption settings?</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline7">
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Suppose that some new encryption vulnerability has been announced and that you need to change your encryption settings. Maybe an algorithm thought to be secure is now no longer so and you need to remove it. You can change your settings by doing the following:
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -411,9 +440,9 @@ You will then be able to edit the crypto settings for all of the installed appli
|
|||
</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-8" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="unnumbered-8">How do I get a domain name?</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-8">
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-orgheadline8" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="orgheadline8">How do I get a domain name?</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline8">
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Suppose that you have bought a domain name (rather than using a free subdomain on freedns) and you want to use that instead.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -481,21 +510,17 @@ You should now be able to send an email from <i>postmaster@mynewdomainname</i> a
|
|||
</div>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-9" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="unnumbered-9">How do I get a "real" SSL certificate?</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-9">
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-orgheadline9" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="orgheadline9">How do I get a "real" SSL certificate?</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline9">
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
You can obtain a free "official" (as in recognised by default by web browsers) SSL certificate from <a href="https://www.startssl.com/">StartSSL</a>. You will first need to have bought a domain name, since it's not possible to obtain one for a freedns subdomain, so see <i>Using your own domain</i> for details of how to do that. You should also have tested that you can send email to the domain and receive it on the Freedombone (via Mutt or any other email client).
|
||||
You can obtain a free "official" (as in recognised by default by web browsers) SSL certificate from <a href="https://www.startssl.com/">StartSSL</a>. You will first need to have bought a domain name, since it's not possible to obtain one for a freedns subdomain, so see <a href="#orgheadline8">Using your own domain</a> for details of how to do that. You should also have tested that you can send email to the domain and receive it on the Freedombone (via Mutt or any other email client).
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
When creating a SSL certificate it's important that the private key (the private component of the public/private pair in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public-key_cryptography">public key cryptography</a>) be generated on the Freedombone <i>and remain there</i>. Don't generate the private key via the StartSSL certificate wizard because this means that potentially they may retain a copy of it which could then be exfiltrated either via <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavabit">Lavabit</a> style methodology, "implants", compromised sysadmins or other "side channel" methods. So that the private key isn't broadcast on the internet we can instead generate a certificate request, which is really just a request for authorisation of a public key.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Firstly you should have a web server site configuration ready to go. See <i>Setting up a web site</i> for details.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Within StartSSL under the validations wizard validate your domain, which means sending an email to it and confirming a code.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -663,9 +688,9 @@ Now visit your web site at <a href="https://mydomainname.com/">https://mydomainn
|
|||
</div>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-10" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="unnumbered-10">How do I renew a StartSSL certificate?</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-10">
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-orgheadline10" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="orgheadline10">How do I renew a StartSSL certificate?</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline10">
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
The StartSSL certificates last for a year. You can check the expiry date of your current certificate/s by going to your site and if you're using Firefox then click on the <b>lock icon</b>, select "<b>more information</b>" then "<b>view certificate</b>".
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -679,7 +704,7 @@ Make sure that you have the StartSSL certificate which was created when you init
|
|||
</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Now go to <i>startssl.com</i> and click on the keys icon on the right hand side to log in. Select the <b>Control panel</b> then <b>Validations Wizard</b> and choose <b>Email address validation</b>. Enter your email address, then wait for the validation email to show up in your inbox. It will contain a code when you can then enter.
|
||||
Now go to <a href="https://startssl.com/">startssl.com</a> and click on the keys icon on the right hand side to log in. Select the <b>Control panel</b> then <b>Validations Wizard</b> and choose <b>Email address validation</b>. Enter your email address, then wait for the validation email to show up in your inbox. It will contain a code when you can then enter.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -735,9 +760,9 @@ The new certificate will then be installed.
|
|||
</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-11" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="unnumbered-11">Why use self-signed certificates?</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-11">
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-orgheadline11" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="orgheadline11">Why use self-signed certificates?</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline11">
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Almost everywhere on the web you will read that self-signed certificates are worthless. They bring up scary looking browser warnings and gurus will advise you not to use them. Self-signed certificates are quite useful though. What the scary warnings mean - and it would be good if they explained this more clearly - is that you have an encrypted connection established but there is <i>no certainty about who that connection is with</i>. The usual solution to this is to get a "real" SSL certificate from one of the certificate authorities, but it's far from clear that such authorities can be trusted. There have been various scandals involving such organisations, and it does not seem plausible to assume that they are somehow immune to the sort of treatment which <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavabit">Lavabit</a> received. So although most internet users have been trained to look for the lock icon as an indication that the connection is secured that belief may not always be well founded.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
|
|
@ -751,17 +776,17 @@ For now a self-signed certificate will probably in most cases protect your commu
|
|||
</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-12" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="unnumbered-12">Why not use the services of $company instead? They took the Seppuku pledge</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-12">
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-orgheadline12" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="orgheadline12">Why not use the services of $company instead? They took the Seppuku pledge</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline12">
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
<a href="http://seppuku.cryptostorm.org/">That pledge</a> is utterly worthless. Years ago people trusted Google in the same sort of way, because they promised not be be evil and because a lot of the engineers working for them seemed like honest types who were "<i>on our side</i>". Post-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymwars">nymwars</a> and post-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PRISM_(surveillance_program)">PRISM</a> we know exactly how much Google cared about the privacy and security of its users. But Google is only one particular example. In general don't trust pledges made by companies, even if the people running them seem really sincere.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
</div>
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-unnumbered-13" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="unnumbered-13">Why does my email keep getting rejected as spam by Gmail/etc?</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-unnumbered-13">
|
||||
<div id="outline-container-orgheadline13" class="outline-2">
|
||||
<h2 id="orgheadline13">Why does my email keep getting rejected as spam by Gmail/etc?</h2>
|
||||
<div class="outline-text-2" id="text-orgheadline13">
|
||||
<p>
|
||||
Welcome to the world of email. Email is really the archetypal decentralized service, developed during the early days of the internet. In principle anyone can run an email server, and that's exactly what you're doing with Freedombone. Email is very useful, but it has a big problem, and that's that the protocols are totally insecure. That made it easy for spammers to do their thing, and in response highly elaborate spam filtering and blocking systems were developed. Chances are that your emails are being blocked in this way. Sometimes the blocking is so indisciminate that entire countries are excluded. What can you do about it? Unless you control the block list at the receiving end probably you can't do anything. There is zero accountability for such blocking, and you can't just contact someone and say "hey, I'm not a spammer". This system works well for the big internet companies because it effectively centralises email to a few well-known brand names and keeps any independent servers out.
|
||||
</p>
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
Loading…
Reference in New Issue