New Release: BridgeDB 0.10.1

by phw | May 27, 2020

When ISPs or governments block access to the Tor network, our users rely on bridges to connect. With BridgeDB, we tackle the problem of how to get bridges to censored users while making it difficult for censors to get all bridges.

We just released and deployed BridgeDB version 0.10.1. Here's what's new:

  • Ticket #30941: Our email autoresponder was notoriously difficult to use and would only respond with bridges if you got the email commands right. Many people didn't, so we tried to ease the pain by making the autoresponder reply with obfs4 bridges even if the user sent an invalid request. We also simplified the language in the autoresponder's reply. Keep in mind that you need to send requests from either a Gmail or a Riseup address.
  • Ticket #33631: So far, BridgeDB remembered only the first distribution mechanism it ever learned for a given bridge. This means that if a bridge would change its mind and re-configure its distribution mechanism using the BridgeDistribution config option, BridgeDB would ignore it. This patch changes this behavior, so bridges can actually change their distribution mechanism.
  • Ticket #31528: BridgeDB used a bunch of silly phrases across its UI that made it unnecessarily difficult to translate and interact with. This patch replaced these phrases with simpler language. Thanks to Armin Huremagic (agix) for fixing this issue!
  • Ticket #30946: Python 2 is no longer supported, so we ported BridgeDB's code base to Python 3. This was no easy feat but thanks to Damian Johnson (atagar), who did most of the heavy lifting, we are now done!
  • Ticket #33008: We added an info page to BridgeDB which explains its distribution mechanisms. Relay Search now shows a bridge's distribution mechanism and links to this info page, so bridge operators can learn more.
  • Ticket #30317: This patch updates our "howto" box, which explains how one adds bridges to Tor Browser. In addition to updating the instructions, this patch also links to instructions for Android.
  • Ticket #33945: This patch fixed a bug that broke BridgeDB's email autoresponder after a few hours or days. We believe that this was a regression that was introduced as part of our port to Python 3.
  • Ticket #12802: We built a small script that can test BridgeDB's email autoresponder. Our monitoring tool monit periodically runs this script and sends us an email alert if the autoresponder stopped working.
  • Ticket #17548: BridgeDB's email autoresponder used to be able to send PGP-signed messages. This feature broke a long time ago and the cost of maintaining it outweighs its usefulness, so we removed it.
  • Ticket #31967: BridgeDB now uses a CSPRNG to select a cached CAPTCHA. Thanks to Armin Huremagic (agix) for fixing this issue!
  • Ticket #29686: We renamed source code files to prevent file name conflicts on file systems that are not case sensitive.
  • Ticket #34154: We added several new fields to our SQLite database that we will use to keep track of where bridges are blocked.

Hopefully, these changes make the lives of our users easier. Please let us know what you think and share your experience with BridgeDB!

Comments

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The best way to join the community is by chatting in the OFTC IRC network.
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Puedes recibir una copia del navegador Tor mediante Gettor (en el link hay más informaciones sobre Gettor) Tienes que enviar una petición a gettor@torproject.org en el que especificas tu sistema operativo y tu lugar.
Por ejemplo: „windows es“ y Gettor te responderá con links para descargarte el navegador Tor.
Puedes también intentar descargarte el navegador Tor de este link tor.eff.org o de tor.ccc.de (para ver toda la lista usa este link mirros).

Anonymous (not verified) said:

June 07, 2020

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It wouldn't hurt to have a basic intro of what BridgeDB is and what it's for. The https://bridges.torproject.org homepage just explains how to use it, and the /info page just covers the distribution mechanisms. I couldn't find an overview or FAQ about BridgeDB anywhere.

e.g., To give you some ideas:
- What is BridgeDB? Who uses it? Should I care?
- Is there only one central BridgeDB instance (bridges.torproject.org) or are there third-party instances in existence? Where can I find them?
- If I wanted to operate a bridge relay, how would I use BridgeDB to advertise my bridge? Does it happen automatically, and can I opt-out? How do I advertise my bridge on a third-party BridgeDB instance?
- I don't want it to be publicly known that I'm running a bridge relay from my IP address. (e.g., Use of Tor is illegal or suspicious in my country.) Is my identity protected from scrapers and dataminers?
- I don't trust Google (via Gmail, reCaptcha). Can I limit which distribution mechanisms can be used to obtain information about my bridge?
- What prevents an evil government from flooding the BridgeDB with fake addresses, or poisoning it with honeypot bridges?

nonickname (not verified) said:

June 29, 2020

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hello，although I have used the bridge which provideed by Bridge DB in China， I still can't connect to tor.However，sometimes it's strange that I do can connect to tor ，is it normal？Or is the GFW or the government has blocked some of the tor relay？

I suggest joining the #tor IRC channel at irc.oftc.net. People will be able to help you out with bridges.

Past research has shown that the GFW occasionally has brief outages during which users may be able to use the Tor network but in general, the GFW is blocking all relays.