[GNUnet-SVN] r5315 - in GNUnet/doc: . manual

[gnunet]

Author: durner
Date: 2007-07-15 14:12:18 -0600 (Sun, 15 Jul 2007)
New Revision: 5315

Added:
   GNUnet/doc/manual/
   GNUnet/doc/manual/manual.texi
Log:
initial import


Property changes on: GNUnet/doc/manual
___________________________________________________________________
Name: svn:ignore
   + manual.aux
manual.cp
manual.dvi
manual.fn
manual.ky
manual.pg
manual.toc
manual.tp
manual.vr


Added: GNUnet/doc/manual/manual.texi
===================================================================
--- GNUnet/doc/manual/manual.texi                               (rev 0)
+++ GNUnet/doc/manual/manual.texi       2007-07-15 20:12:18 UTC (rev 5315)
@@ -0,0 +1,212 @@
+\input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
+
address@hidden manual.info
address@hidden GNUnet manual
+
address@hidden
address@hidden GNUnet
address@hidden  GNU's decentralized P2P framework
address@hidden by Nils Durner
address@hidden titlepage
+
address@hidden
+
address@hidden Introduction
address@hidden Introduction
+
address@hidden Scope of this document
address@hidden Scope of this document
+This document is targeted towards end users who want to better understand what
+GNUnet is about, how it works and how to use it. GNUnet's technical background
+is only discussed briefly as the corresponding scientific papers
address@hidden@uref {http://www.gnunet.org/papers.php3}} already cover
+these information. Additionally, practical tips are given on how to use 
GNUnet's
+tools in an efficient and secure manner.
+
+If one of your questions is not answered in this book, do not hesitate to
+contact the GNUnet developers or ask the GNUnet community for help. @xref 
{Contact}
+
address@hidden What is address@hidden
address@hidden What is address@hidden
+GNUnet can be summarized as ``software for secure Peer-to-Peer networking''.
+In this case, the term ``secure'' implies that:
address@hidden
+       @item Nobody on the network knows who you are 
(``anonymity'')address@hidden main goal
+       of GNUnet is to obscure the source of requests and actual content. For 
example,
+       nobody should be able to tell that you are the person who published a 
certain
+       document.
+       @item Nobody knows what you do (``confidentiality'')address@hidden 
outsiders nor
+       participants in the network should be able to tell in what kind of 
activities
+       you and your node are involved.
+       @item Nobody can prove that you know anything 
(``deniability'')address@hidden actions in
+       anonymous
+       P2P systems require other peers to act upon behalf of another peer. 
None of the
+       involved peers knows what a particular action (searching, publishing) is
+       exactly about. That way, there is not need (and no possibility, see the 
next point)
+       to employ filters. Also, it should be hard to prove you searched for or 
published
+       particular content yourself.
+       @item Nobody is able to suppress information on the net
+       (``censorship-resistance'')address@hidden filtering and censoring 
should be impossible
+       for attackers from the outside as well as malicious peers inside of 
GNUnet.
+       @item Nobody can destabilize the network (achieved through
+       ``accounting'')address@hidden should not be possible to overload the 
network by flooding
+       the net with requests or content. Also, freeloading
+       @footnote{Retrieving content in large quantities without contributing to
+       the network} is dealt with.
+       @item No participant can pretend to be another (through 
authentication)@*
+       To be able to do accounting and guard against well-known attacks, all 
message
+       exchanges in GNUnet are authenticated. Of course, this is done in a way 
that
+       does not impair anonymity.
address@hidden itemize
+Other features of GNUnet include:
address@hidden
+  @item Open and constant address@hidden is @dfn{Free Open Source Software},
+  which means that
+  any software engineer, computer scientist or hobbyist is able to verify what
+  GNUnet really does. New additions or modifications are instantly and
+  automatically sent via email to dozens of interested people around the world 
who
+  follow the development of GNUnet. This ensures that there is no way to sneak
+  undesirable or malicous functionality address@hidden
+  Additionally, the way GNUnet achieves the goals mentioned above is described
+  in a number of address@hidden by other scientists
+  and security experts} scientific
+  address@hidden@uref {http://www.gnunet.org/papers.php3}}. This
+  enables people to audit the design of GNUnet without looking at the actual
+  address@hidden
+  Finally, the GNUnet developers are always open to discussion and suggestions.
+  Several new features have been discussed in the public on mailing lists, IRC 
or
+  GNUnet's community page. The team also believes in the concept of an open
+  and honest information policy regarding security problems 
(``full-disclosure'').
+  @item Decentralized address@hidden
+  The only central resources GNUnet uses are the hostlist servers. These 
servers
+  provide GNUnet peers with information on how to connect to other network
+  participants in order to join the network. Inside the network, there are no
+  central trusted authorities (like index servers for searching, for example).
+  Thus, the network as whole cannot be disrupted by failure of a central
+  service. Also, central services are problematic in terms of GNUnet's design
+  goals regarding censorship-resistance, deniability, confidentiality and
+  accountability.
+  @item Optional F2F/''darknet'' operating address@hidden
+  The usually policy is to allow everybody to connect to the GNUnet. However, 
it
+  is possible to run a private P2P network where only trusted participants are
+  allowed to connect. This kind of network is also called ``Friend-to-Friend 
network''
+  or occasionally ``Darknet''.
+  @item Non-anonymous file address@hidden
+  For each file, both the sender and the receiver can chose the level of 
desired
+  anonymity. Because the degree of anonymity is a tradeoff between efficiency
+  (ultimately measured in transfer speed) and security, they can also agree to
+  transfer data in a non-anonymous fashion while still maintaining a secure
+  connection (as defined above) for maximum speed.
+  @item Next-generation address@hidden
+  GNUnet tools make filesharing more convenient through features like display 
of
+  thumbnails in search results, search by meta address@hidden author,
+  title, camera type, @dots} and retrieval of complete directory structures.
+  @item Layered software address@hidden
+  Technically speaking, the GNUnet software is not a single program, but rather
+  a @dfn{framework} that enables others to create new applications on top of 
the
+  GNUnet core quite address@hidden
+  Two examples for this are the projects @sc{gnunet-fuse} and @sc{gnunet-qt}.
+  The former enables you to access content found on GNUnet in the same way as
+  if it was stored on a DVD, the latter is a graphical user interface for 
GNUnet.
+  Both projects were each written by an individual developer in a matter of 
weeks.
address@hidden itemize
+
address@hidden What is GNUnet address@hidden
address@hidden What is GNUnet not?
+The most important property of all current solutions that offer a very high
+degree of anonymity is that you cannot exchange information @emph{fast}.
+While some of the current performance problems may be due to yet undiscovered
+software bugs or lack of optimization, other delays are by design. This means
+that anonymous transfers will never be as fast as non-anonymous downloads via
address@hidden://www.bittorrent.com}.
+
+A limitation specific to GNUnet is that currently the only available 
application is
+filesharing. Ideas for other services like anonymous chat or tunelling of
+traditional services exist, but elaborate concepts or implementations do not.
+In the meantime, users should use address@hidden@uref{http://tor.eff.org}}
+for everything else than anonymous filesharing.
+
address@hidden Contact
address@hidden Contact
+
+The GNUnet community is a group of people spread throughout the world which
+not only discusses new concepts and ideas but also kindly helps newcomers
+and answers their address@hidden
+There are different ways to get in touch with the community.
+
address@hidden Forum, stories, blogs and polls
address@hidden Forum, stories, blogs and polls
+The web portal at @uref{http://gnunet.org/drupal/} is the main entry point
+for discussion and news.
+
+The forum is the right place for discussion, questions and answers. Some
+community members including the GNUnet developers also share their knowledge,
+latests findings and recent proceedings in form of stories and blogs. And as
+the developers need constant feedback from their user base, polls provide an
+effective way to let the developers know what should be improved next.
+
+Everything related to GNUnet is welcome, as long as it is respectful and legal.
+
address@hidden Mailinglists
address@hidden Mailinglists
+While email usually only works with known and named recipients, 
@dfn{mailinglists}
+allow communication with large groups over email. There are four different 
mailinglists
+that serve different purposes:
address@hidden
+       @item Developers, @email{gnunet-developers@@address@hidden
+             This mailinglist is used by the GNUnet developers to exchange 
ideas about
+             the implementation. Also, contributions (preferably as context 
patch
+             @footnote{not the full file, just the difference between the 
orginial and
+             the modified version as produced by the @dfn{diff} command},
+             if applicable) should be sent here. Please do @emph{not} send 
several MBs,
+             talk to the developers first in this case!
+       @item Users, @email{help-gnunet@@address@hidden
+             help-gnunet is a mailinglist that is intended as a discussion 
forum for users,
+             such that they can help other users. Some developers are also 
subscribed to
+             this list. Please do not report bugs or request features on this 
list. Use
+             our bug tracker instead. @xref{Bugtracker}
+       @item address@hidden
+             This is a mailing list where only GNUnet developers can post 
announcements about
+             new releases of GNUnet and related software. All other mail will 
be discarded.
+             Users who want to receive such announcements have to sign up, see 
below.
+       @item address@hidden
+             All modifications made to GNUnet are instantly sent to this list, 
which is
+             only interesting for developers who want to be notified about 
changes of
+             GNUnet's source code. Other mail will be discarded.
address@hidden itemize
+
+To receive emails sent to these lists, one has to sign up for each list at the
+following locations:
address@hidden@uref{http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnunet-developers}
address@hidden@uref{http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/help-gnunet}
address@hidden@uref{http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-gnunet}
address@hidden@uref{http://mail.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnunet-svn}
address@hidden
+These sites also contain an archive of old discussions and announcements. 
Except
+the "Diffs" mailing list, all lists only carry low (if any) amounts of traffic.
+Most of the discussion has moved to the community portal or chat (see below).
+
address@hidden Chat
address@hidden Chat
+Various GNUnet people are also on the @dfn{Freenode IRC 
address@hidden@uref{http://www.freenode.net/}}}
+and meet in the channel #gnunet. Reaction is not always timely here, so 
patience
+is sometimes required.
+
address@hidden Bugtracker
address@hidden Bugtracker
+The bugtracker at @uref{http://gnunet.org/mantis/} stores all bug reports as 
well
+as feature and change requests. Registration is required to submit new reports
+or requests.
+Submissions should be as detailed as possible.
+
address@hidden Getting GNUnet
address@hidden Getting GNUnet
+
address@hidden Getting GNUnet - Overview
address@hidden Overview
+
+As GNUnet is @dfn{Free Open Source Software}, obtaining a copy is easy and free
+of charge. Mostly depending on your hardware and your operating system, the
+process of installing GNUnet onto your computer is more or less convenient.
+
address@hidden