[Author Prev][Author Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Author Index][Thread Index]

Re: mixmaster delivery?



On Mon, 2004-02-02 at 20:04, Douglas F. Calvert wrote:
> Hello,
>  How come no one has mixmaster delivery turned on? I turned it on for a
> second and then became nervous when no one else had it turned on.

Totoro1,2 and Moria1,2 have smtp-via-mixmaster delivery enabled.  The
reason that most people don't have it is that it isn't especially
useful: sending a Type-III message through a direct Type-III exit node
is likely to be more reliable, since it doesn't get the Type-II network
involved at all.  It doesn't _really_ create another exit node: it only
fakes it.

The option is only there so that I can test exit functionality without
having to deal with running an exit node.  Once I'm on an ISP with a TOS
that allows me to run my own exit node, I'll switch to offering a direct
exit.

Probably, the option will go away some time before/around Mixminion
0.1.0.

>  And
> for that matter how come very few people have frag turned on? Are these
> broken or susceptible to breakage? Thanks a lot...

Fragment reassembly is not, to my knowledge, broken.  There are a few
drawbacks, however.  First, there are _possible_ DoS attacks, and you
will need to allocate more disk space than for a normal server
(especially if you allow very large fragmented messages).  Second, some
people may not want to allow very large files to exit their servers (to
save their bandwidth, and avoid involvement with the RIAA and friends). 
Third, the feature is only useful if you are offering direct SMTP:
sending very large messages (>20K) with SMTP-via-Mixmaster is not
reliable.

I suspect, however, that some people who aren't offering fragment
reassembly are just too busy to edit their mixminiond.conf files any
more than necessary to keep their servers running.

(Do any admins have other reasons?)
-- 
Nick

Attachment: signature.asc
Description: This is a digitally signed message part