by ph33r on 12/10/18, 2:22 AM with 5 comments
None of my IT colleagues use it, my family certainly doesn't use it, and two guys I know who work in the NetSec field don't bother with it. It would seem the stigma is real.
Do you use Tor everyday?
- Browse HN and reddit with it?
- Do regular search queries and browsing on it?
- Use legitimate .onion sites (DuckDuckGo, Facebook, Proton Mail) instead of their clearnet address?
by sidkhanooja on 12/10/18, 6:02 AM
Unless it (somehow) finds a way to decrease latency in the future, it will remain as it is today - filling a useful niche for the masses, and even a daily driver for the privacy concerned - but I can't see it ever being in the mainstream. The average users couldn't give two hoots about privacy - they just want things to work, which is an understandable PoV.
And why would anyone visit HN with it? FB, I can get behind, but what tangible benefits would you get from using Tor on a site which (afaik) doesn't track you, and doesn't sell your data? Genuinely curious.
by jamieweb on 12/10/18, 7:22 PM
The Hidden Service functionality is great for breaking out of Carrier Grade NAT, normal NAT, or any other restricted network environment.
A prime example of this is being able to SSH into devices running on a 4G LTE connection. You're behind CGNAT so the public IP address is not unique to you, and you definitely can't port forward as you're just a customer and not in control of the ISP systems. If you run a Hidden Service, you can break right out - and it's secure too, as long as you use the new Onion v3 spec rather than the original Onion v2.
I agree that Tor seems to have a large stigma though - I find that the terms 'Tor' and 'Onion' usually make people who aren't aware think of the scary criminal underground. The term 'Hidden Service' isn't so bad. The idea that Tor is simply a networking tool seems new to most people.
by mistermithras on 12/10/18, 5:29 AM
by Cypher on 12/10/18, 3:32 AM
by NinjaX on 12/11/18, 11:15 AM