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- Filename: 123-autonaming.txt
- Title: Naming authorities automatically create bindings
- Author: Peter Palfrader
- Created: 2007-10-11
- Status: Closed
- Implemented-In: 0.2.0.x
- Overview:
- Tor's directory authorities can give certain servers a "Named" flag
- in the network-status entry, when they want to bind that nickname to
- that identity key. This allows clients to specify a nickname rather
- than an identity fingerprint and still be certain they're getting the
- "right" server.
- Authority operators name a server by adding their nickname and
- identity fingerprint to the 'approved-routers' file. Historically
- being listed in the file was required for a router, at first for being
- listed in the directory at all, and later in order to be used by
- clients as a first or last hop of a circuit.
- Adding identities to the list of named routers so far has been a
- manual, time consuming, and boring job. Given that and the fact that
- the Tor network works just fine without named routers the last
- authority to keep a current binding list stopped updating it well over
- half a year ago.
- Naming, if it were done, would serve a useful purpose however in that
- users can have a reasonable expectation that the exit server Bob they
- are using in their http://www.google.com.bob.exit/ URL is the same
- Bob every time.
- Proposal:
- I propose that identity<->name binding be completely automated:
- New bindings should be added after the router has been around for a
- bit and their name has not been used by other routers, similarly names
- that have not appeared on the network for a long time should be freed
- in case a new router wants to use it.
- The following rules are suggested:
- i) If a named router has not been online for half a year, the
- identity<->name binding for that name is removed. The nickname
- is free to be taken by other routers now.
- ii) If a router claims a certain nickname and
- a) has been on the network for at least two weeks, and
- b) that nickname is not yet linked to a different router, and
- c) no other router has wanted that nickname in the last month,
- a new binding should be created for this router and its desired
- nickname.
- This automaton does not necessarily need to live in the Tor code, it
- can do its job just as well when it's an external tool.
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