RetroShare, manual for beginners [Yuriy Iovlev] (fb2) read online

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RetroShare, a manual for beginners 

FAQ 

What is RetroShare

 RetroShare

... is a program for private communications and content distribution. It allows everyone to create their own encrypted “network of friends.”

 Network building

To become a member of the network you must: 1) create a personal certificate (profile) in the program, 2) exchange it with other users of the RetroShare network.

 Network services

Add a chat server certificate and it will give you access to some chat rooms. After adding friends to the program, all its services will become available.

Creating an Identity

 - Afterwards, you need to create a pseudonym(s) for online communication. - There are anonymous and personalized individuals. - All individuals can be given a reputation and, thus, their messages can be ignored.

 Personalities

 

Forums and chats

 They can be public or private - available only to certain participants. If desired, access to them can be limited or prohibited.

 Availability

 Participants have access only to those forums and chats that their surroundings are subscribed to. This prevents the spread of unwanted content and spam. 

 You can create circles online, i.e. lists of participants "by interests". The publication of content can be limited to a circle of friends or any other. 

 Post office

 Allows you to send messages to any RetroShare user, even those who are offline. You can attach files of any size and content to the letter.

File sharing

Files between friends are shared directly if they allow it, and anonymously in other cases.

Search files

You can search: •among the files of your friends, •through the files of their friends, etc. (at a distance of 6 jumps)Friends' folders can be viewed.

Channels

They are used to publish content within the network. At the same time, a channel can have several administrators. Subscribers can automatically download new files.

Publications

A service for distributing and discussing various links. Allows you to vote for your favorite materials, which is reminiscent of the Reddit site.

Audio/video

VoIP plugin is designed for voice and video calls. You can only call friends using RetroShare. Group calls are not yet available.

Tor/I2P support

The network can work on top of the "hidden services" Tor or I2P, these are:

+ hides the IP address from 'friends', + protects metadata, + makes it easier to connect to hosts behind NAT, - reduces file sharing speed.

Peculiarities

- complete decentralization (F2F), - all traffic is encrypted by default (using OpenSSL with PFS support), - authentication using PGP keys, - anonymity (optional), - relatively easy to use.

Available on RetroShare

Internet users are not only curious people, but also busy ones. That's why it makes sense to briefly and to the point note those facts about the RetroShare crypto platform that will allow users to quickly understand whether RetroShare is worth their attention. We will do this in the form of a question and answer.
Why should I pay attention to the RetroShare platform? Of course, you are not forced to do anything against your will, but if you are concerned about your own safety on the Internet, then trying out the potential of RetroShare definitely makes sense.
Security? What are we talking about? There are two key security issues with the current Internet:

centralization of services; openness of the data transmission channel to third parties.

If at the very least, although not always, the second can be dealt with by a relatively simple method - data encryption, then the first problem can be solved by far from trivial approaches. Centralization of services requires us to completely trust and rely on the honesty of the organization or company providing this or that service. In an era when information is of the highest value (were there any other times?), trusting strangers when transmitting important information is an unaffordable luxury, if not a mistake of catastrophic proportions. Details can be found using the search. Even if you are careful and do not transfer personal or other sensitive information to third-party services, it is still worth keeping in mind that data on the Internet is transmitted over open communication channels and, often, in an unsecured form. This means that your computer, if desired, can always be “listened” to see what and to whom it sends and receives. When talking about Internet security, we do not mention such “minor” abuses as, for example, contextual advertising, allowing someone to make money from us, or filter bubbles.
What if I don't care whether they spy on me or not? Firstly, besides yourself, you probably have a family. They may not care what outsiders know about you. After all, if an ill-wisher has a large amount of information about you, your habits, interests, etc., then it is obvious that directly or indirectly he knows some information about your family and friends. Don't worry about yourself - think about others. Secondly, you nowdoesn't matter. But it may happen that at some point you will not care at all. And no one will definitely delete the previously accumulated information about you. And it is at this moment that it will be used for its intended purpose, most likely in a negative way. And last on the list, but not least in importance... Without seeking to ensure the secrecy of your activities on the Internet, and even more so by promoting this approach, you give The punitive investigative authorities of your state have carte blanche to obtain information about those for whom it is vitally important to have their own secret. By setting such an example, you equate yourself and a significant part of your compatriots with a led and eternally driven herd. Indirectly, you limit the freedom of your immediate and distant surroundings. Without the free you, others will also have a little less freedom.
Fine. Briefly, what will RetroShare do for me? Let us outline simple points and give general formulations. The RetroShare crypto platform allows the user to be free and feel safe in two important ways:

communication with both friends and strangers; secure file sharing.

RetroShare is an anonymous, serverless, cryptographically secure platform. The data exchange protocol is implemented in such a way that: 1) the RetroShare crypto network consists only of user computers, the network is not turned off by someone’s whim, desire or malicious intent; 2) all data transmitted over the network is subject to strong encryption; 3) the network guarantees that data intended for user A will under no circumstances fall into the hands of users B, C or D; [ update : starting from version 0.6 of the crypto platform, it is possible to hide the IP address of each user within even a trusted environment; details here[2]] ; 5) all network participants have equal rights; there are no primary or secondary users;6) the security of work in the cryptonetwork does not depend on the country of residence, Internet provider or random extraneous factors and force majeure circumstances; the user himself determines “what”, “how”, “where” and “under what conditions”.
What interesting and useful services are available in RetroShare? The concept of “interesting” is quite subjective, however, some milestones can be identified, and only then you yourself will determine what will be interesting and what will be useful. So, at the moment in RetroShare you can:

communicate anonymously in general chats, create your own chats; communicate privately and anonymously with any network user; create a private chat and communicate only with those users you trust (while other network users will not even know the existence of such a chat); send an email mail within the network; both anonymously and pseudonymously publish messages and files, while everyone logged into the network can later view and download the material you posted; publish files and folders only for certain people, while other participants will not be able to download your content ;search for files on the network using a powerful and efficient search system; make voice and video calls to your friends and acquaintances that are guaranteed against eavesdropping.

By the way, about anonymity. There are many applications that give the user some degree of anonymity. Still – why RetroShare? Take a close look at the following article[3] and the table it contains. Of the actively developing networks (penultimate column) that provide user anonymity (third column), only networks based on i2p, FreeNet, GNUNet and RetroShare can be distinguished. The last three have related operating principles, but RetroShare is by far the most user-friendly. [ Update as of January 22, 2015: another noteworthy participant in anonymous file sharing has appeared - Tribler[4]; and although the official website of the project states that anonymity has not yet been fully implemented, there is no doubt that it will be done soon.] In this context, it also makes sense to look at the Perfect Dark file-sharing network, but the development of the latter is carried out in a closed mode, which means that you should still trust it with caution. In recent years, a network called Hyperboria[!https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cjdns!], or Hyperborea, has gained some popularity. However, the concept underlying it is also very close to the concept on which the RetroShare crypto platform operates. And again: of all the named data exchange networks that provide the user with anonymity, working in RetroShare will be simpler and more effective.
What is anonymity in RetroShare? The physical basis of anonymous data exchange (read file sharing and messages) in the RetroShare crypto platform is a system of virtual tunnels that are automatically laid between two users through many intermediaries. Let's explain with an example. You need to anonymously deliver an important package to Peter Stremoukhov. Option 1 . You come to the post office and indicate on the parcel the last name, first name and address of the recipient, as well as your own address in case of return. This is the situation of a centralized non-anonymous service. The file-sharing networks eMule and DC++ operate on a similar principle. Option 2. You approach the nearest taxi driver with the package and ask him to deliver it to Peter Stremoukhov, who lives at such and such an address. The taxi driver can be anyone, anywhere in the city. You give the taxi driver a portion of the payment and a phone number to pay for his service when the delivery is completed. This is the situation of a decentralized non-anonymous service. A file-sharing network based on the BitTorrent protocol operates on a similar principle. Option 3 . You approach the nearest taxi driver with the package and ask him to deliver it to Peter Stremoukhov. Peter's addresses ( IP address) you don’t know and ask an experienced taxi driver to do something. You also do not give out your phone number and address, wanting to maintain your anonymity. The taxi driver agrees and begins asking colleagues and acquaintances if anyone knows Peter Stremoukhov. There is another taxi driver who reports that one of his friends may know someone like this. The package is handed over to the second taxi driver, who goes to a friend’s place, where it turns out that there is such a person as Pyotr Stremoukhov. The second taxi driver gives the package to his friend, and he goes to Peter and hands it over personally. The chain can be quite long, but the main thing is that neither Peter’s address nor your address are known to each other. Although theoretically, those especially interested in de-anonymization could untangle this knot. Networks based on i2p and Tor work on a similar principle. The so-called chaining principle is described here.to achieve file sharing anonymity. Option 4 . You are disassembling the netbook that was in the package. You remove the keyboard, disconnect the battery, remove the motherboard, hard drive and memory, remove the screen matrix, etc. down to the smallest components. You pack each extracted part into a separate parcel and hand them over to individual taxi drivers in different parts of the city. Then everything happens by analogy with option 3. After some time, in most cases quite a long time, Pyotr Stremoukhov receives fragments of the netbook, assembles it and uses it. The Perfect Dark network works on a similar principle. The so-called crushing principle is described heretransmitted data to achieve anonymity. Since many “taxi drivers” are involved in the procedure for transferring parcels, there is a high probability of failures or even betrayal. Especially when you consider that Perfect Dark is being developed behind closed doors by an unknown person. And finally, option 5 . You find out that your city has established a reliable system for transmitting parcels through a system of trusted people. It's not easy to discover, but you start asking around here, asking around there, and it turns out that one of your friends happens to know what it's about. Moreover, he himself participates in this “dark” parcel delivery network. In the network, each participant is assigned a random numeric identifier(no first and last names). You need to deliver a package to a user with ID 410598798234007. Each participant knows several other participants ( trusted environment), calls them or meets them from time to time in certain places in the city, where they inform that they need to deliver a package to a participant with the identifier so-and-so. In this particular case, your friend calls two or three friends and reports that there is a package intended for user 410598798234007. This ends the conversation. Your friend’s trusted ones call their circle of trusted ones, those call theirs, and so on, until an addressee with the identifier 410598798234007 is found. After this, a reverse “call” occurs, it is reported that the addressee has been found and, thus, a certain unknown virtual channel for sending the parcel is established .This is how data is transferred in the RetroShare network . The following properties and features of the network can be formulated based on this paradigm:

the establishment of a forwarding channel occurs quite quickly; the formed chain of users can be trusted, since neighboring links are personally connected and have obligations to each other; the delivery network as a whole does not rely on physical addresses, but only on impersonal identifiers, although, of course, everyone has their own address residence and telephone number (IP address); the “package” will be guaranteed to be delivered, since if for some reason it was not possible to “build” one tunnel, then, with an extensive network, another will definitely be built; the “package” in some to the extent it is tracked only within one contact; The data exchange protocol in RetroShare is implemented in such a way that it is impossible to track its further fate; the recipient also knows only the person who transmitted the “parcel”, but the protocol implemented in the RetroShare crypto platform

In conclusion, we would like to add that the RetroShare crypto platform deals not only with the anonymous sending of “parcels”. There are a lot of other possibilities and they are all, as they say, in one box.
Okay, there's something to it. What operating systems can RetroShare run on? How to use? RetroShare distributions are available for almost all operating systems: GNU/Linux, Mac OSX, Windows. You can find them and download them here[5]. A guide to joining the network can be found in this article[6].
The efficiency and security of the algorithm means that I have something to lose, right? Yes, definitely. You use your own Internet channel to transmit other people’s “parcels,” thereby consuming a certain amount of traffic.
Can I hide and not broadcast other people’s parcels? Yes, for this purpose the program has the ability to disable the broadcast of anonymous traffic both globally - for your entire trusted environment - and for certain individuals. The network will work without your help.
And what will happen to me for this? Absolutely nothing. The protocol does not provide for any sanctions for refusal to broadcast transit traffic.
You know, the specifics of my activities on the Internet are such that I would not like to have direct contacts even with a trusted environment. I want to separate myself from everyone. Is this possible? Yes. In the latest version 0.6 of the crypto platform, it is possible to exchange data with your immediate environment via the Tor network. Details can be found here.[7]
The material of the article will be slightly changed and supplemented.[8]

April 12, 2015 at 11:36 pm | Reply Wonderful article! Please write instructions on how to use RetroShare 0.6 on Android OS (if this is possible for this operating system).
April 14, 2015 at 2:36 pm | Reply Unfortunately, RetroShare does not exist for mobile platforms.

RTFM 

RetroShare: fast entry into an anonymous network

Attention! This guide describes the procedure for logging into a cryptonetwork based on the RetroShare 0.6 platform using Windows OS as an example. Details of connecting to the RetroShare network via the Tor anonymous network can be found here[9]. If you are unsure which of the two connection options to use, please use the guide below. Connecting via Tor does not provide “greater” anonymity or privacy, but it does significantly reduce the speed of file sharing. The connection option via Tor is necessary only in specific problem cases listed in the article at the link above (see the part “ Indications for use ”).

The article is addressed to those who do not want to delve into the intricacies of joining the RetroShare network or the essence and ideology of the approaches underlying it, but prefer to quickly and painlessly connect and immediately use its full potential and huge range of capabilities. The procedure for connecting to the RetroShare network involves three basic stages: 1) downloading and installing the client program; 2) creating a personal certificate; 3) searching for trusted peers. The complexity of each of these stages increases as its serial number increases. If downloading and installation usually do not cause any problems, then creating a personal certificate may cause a feeling of some discomfort in a user who has no relation to data encryption and is vaguely aware of the purpose of public and private keys. The search for trusted participants in the RetroShare “dark network”, and to an even greater extent, the mutual exchange of certificates, in general often puts an end to the desire of a potential user to try out the hidden Internet in practice. In reality, there are no fundamental difficulties when connecting to the RetroShare crypto platform. There’s just a lot of things about it that are unusual, a lot of things that aren’t right. This is a different Internet: hidden from prying eyes, anonymous and decentralized. 

Stage one. DOWNLOAD AND INSTALLATION

Download the RetroShare distribution for the system on which we intend to deploy the crypto platform and run the installer. The current version of the distribution can be found on the news page[10]. Important! There are two types of crypto platform installation packages:

package in the form of an automatic installer; package in the form of a portable archive (7z-archive).

For the second option, no installation is required - simply unpack the archive to an arbitrary location and launch it. Which one to use is a matter of taste and common sense. The installer may seem like a more familiar and reliable installation tool, but assemblies in the form of a 7zip archive appear much more often . In this regard, if you want to use the current version of the crypto platform, it is still more profitable to use a 7zip archive. In this case, you can immediately proceed to the second stage - the certificate generation stage. Select the language of the installer and client program:

Set the installation type . For Windows systems, it is strongly recommended to choose a portable installation, in which all program files will be located in one folder and will not be tied to the operating system file structure. Such an installation will subsequently allow you to transfer the program to another computer by simply copying the folder with the installed program.

Specify the installation folder :

We select additional components . Installed skins will allow you to change the appearance of RetroShare later. There are 7 GUI styles installed by default, as well as 13 style specifications. Plugins implement additional functionality of the client program, for example, VoIP. Automatic distribution deployment :

Completing installation :

 Stage two. GENERATING A CERTIFICATE

 When RetroShare is launched for the first time, it displays a wizard window that helps the user create a personal certificate : The “ Name ” field specifies the user's nickname. The password can be arbitrary, but for security purposes it is better that it be at least 8 characters long and that it does not contain trivial combinations of letters or numbers. Field " Location "

"can play a significant role if you want to use the generated key pair on different computers: for example, at home on two laptops and on a work computer. In this case, each instance of the program will use the same private and public key with a different meta location - home1, home2, work - and you will not need to ask friends to add your certificate several times. If you have one single computer and no more are expected in the foreseeable future, then you can specify anything as the location. When generating a certificate, you need to actively move the mouse cursor around the screen and, if possible, load the hard drive by copying files. This will increase the entropy of the synthesized keys, that is, they will become “more random.”

The program loads and immediately a warning appears about the presence of plugins:

We click “Yes”, thereby confirming that we trust them. RetroShare loaded:

If a standard firewall warning appears,

then feel free to check the boxes that allow RetroShare traffic to pass through both your home network and public ones. RetroShare, as stated above, encrypts all transmitted data, so there is nothing to be afraid of: only “digital noise” is sent to and received from the Network, which only those for whom it is intended can understand. A third party will not be able to sniff out anything. Before you start joining the RetroShare crypto network, you should change some default settings. We will expand the service data exchange channel and increase the number of tunnels you provide to other network participants.


The higher these values, the more useful you are for the RetroShare crypto network, since not only your own traffic will go to you, but also transit traffic from other users. The values ​​are set for a network with a speed of 20 Mbit/s. You can increase your bandwidth as many times as the speed of your connection is greater than 20 Mbit/s. The “Use relay servers” checkbox should be checked if you have an opaque router or firewall. This will make it easier to join the network. If you have no idea about the state of your router or firewall, then checking “Use relay servers” won't hurt.
Specify the destination folder for downloaded files . Later, this will save you from wondering where RetroShare saved the file.

Go to the "Chat" section and click the " Change chat font " button:

The font size in chats is obviously small, which is especially noticeable on larger screens. For 24-26 inch monitors, a perfectly acceptable font size is 11 points.

Stage three. SEARCHING FOR TRUSTED PEERS, EXCHANGING CERTIFICATES 

It is assumed that you do not have friends using RetroShare, but you need to get into the dark network. In the early stages of development - before version 0.5.3 - trying to penetrate the RetroShare crypto network was indeed a problem. Now everything is different: trusted peers can be found in the chat inside RetroShare. And you can connect to the chat by exchanging a certificate with one or more robots at the following addresses on the open network: Copyleft chat server - https://retroshare.rocks/copyleft/ Kopimi chat server - https://retroshare.rocks/kopimi/ chat server Chatasaurus - http://107.150.3.74/w2c/gxs/
Go to the client settings in the “Network node” section (Node), “Certificate” tab:

Copy the entire contents of the text field to the clipboard. Follow the link above and paste our certificate into the appropriate field:

Enter the verification characters and click “Submit” / “Validate”. Note that when checking, it does not matter whether we enter lowercase or uppercase letters in the corresponding field.
The robot gives us its certificate:

We copy the provided certificate to the clipboard, go to the program and click the button that calls the add friends assistant (the “ Add ” button at the top left).
The wizard window appears:

In the lower field, insert the certificate of the first robot and click the next button:

Check the box “Authenticate friend (sign PGP key)”:

We enter the password for our certificate, created earlier at the second stage of entering the network: A connection progress window appears. You can click “OK”, the connection to the peer will take place in the background.

After some time, a pop-up window appears informing us that we have connected to the robot.

As a result, we have one trusted peer:

 Now in the lower right corner of the program you can see that traffic has appeared, albeit scanty, but different from zero. In the lower left corner of the program interface you can see that we have 1 trusted node. And by clicking on the global tab “Chat Lobbies”, we find a list of available chats: Now there is one step left to the goal: find active participants of the crypto platform in the chats and exchange certificates with them. In order to be able to enter chats, post in forums or make announcements in channels, you must create at least one identity:

You can now subscribe to chat rooms. At the stage of searching for trusted nodes, the main chat for us is “ Retroshare 0.6 Key Exchange ”: This chat contains very friendly users who will be happy to help you connect to the anonymous RetroShare platform. A link to a personal certificate is inserted into the chat by right-clicking in the text field and selecting “Insert link to my certificate” . After someone has responded to your request and provided a link to their own certificate, you left-click on it and add a trusted peer in the same way as the robot before. We go to the friends tab and see that in addition to two robots we now have a full-fledged trusted participant,

and with it – access to the resources of the crypto platform. Forums started loading

and link cloud service Earned content search:

A list of channels appears:

It should be noted that at the initial stage of connecting to an anonymous cryptonetwork, only lists of content are downloaded , but not the content itself . In order for channels or forums to bring content with them, you should subscribe to them by right-clicking and selecting “ Subscribe ”. Once you have connected to at least one active member of the RetroShare network, you also automatically become an active member. Please note that connecting only to a robot that provides access to chats does not allow you to use the entire arsenal of cryptonetwork tools . The robot provides the user with only one service - chats - and in this case you are not a member of the dark web.[11]

***

You are online. Now all that remains is to strengthen your connections with the RetroShare dark network by finding 10–20 trusted participants who log into the network more or less regularly. There are no clear and specific recommendations on how to do this quickly. There are two general approaches to increasing the number of trusted participants: 1) at first, it makes sense to be online more often and monitor chats for those wishing to exchange certificates; 2) publish a link to your certificate in one or more specialized forums where connection to nodes is offered, around the clock connected to RetroShare. The first option is preferable for security reasons, but the second provides a more reliable connection with the crypto platform and a lot of content. However, the most correct strategy for entering the RetroShare dark network in every sense is time. According to this strategy, you should observe for two to three weeks who is in the chats, what the conversation is about, what interests everyone has, finally, talk to someone in a public chat or privately, and only then invite this or that participant to exchange certificates One cannot but agree that RetroShare has a relatively high barrier to entry, which some people do not have enough strength or time to overcome. But it is equally obvious that RetroShare provides almost limitless opportunities for communication and content sharing, the main feature of which is security. And this is worth a lot.[12]

PS A few additional notes

There is an official https://wiki.retroshare.net/ use it too.
At the time of recording, the preferred chat server is https://sss.chaoslab.ru/rs/key_add.php?lang=ru 
If there is no one in the chat, then:
Client for Android:

For Android there is a client for RetroShare-No-Gui version 0.5.5 (incompatible with 0.6), it may work, but it is no longer being developed:  http://efesto.eigenlab.org/~gioacchino/RetroShareAndroidIntegration/apk/ At the moment A new application is being developed.

Those present on VKontakte can consult and search for information: https://vk.com/retroshare
In difficult cases, go to the IRC channel: https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=retroshare

RetroShare settings option

One of the possible settings for the RetroShare crypto platform in pictures.

Settings section “Main”:

From a security point of view, it is not recommended to install auto-login. If auto-login is disabled, an unauthorized person who has copied the folder with the installed program will not only be able to log into the network on your behalf, but also view the local cache files, since all data is encrypted with a private key, access to which is given by the entered password. In this regard, think carefully about whether to enable this mode.

Settings section “Server → Network configuration”:

Settings section “Server → Channel Width”:

The higher the values ​​you set, the better for you and for the crypto network. These values ​​primarily affect the speed of downloading and uploading “live” files. Low-level settings that specify the amount of transit traffic for trusted and nearby environments should be specified in the “Translator” tab. In the above screenshot, the values ​​are actually set to “transmit and receive without speed limits”.

Settings section “Server → Tor Configuration”:

If the “Outgoing Okay” indicator in your client-server does not light up green, then there is nothing to worry about. You still have the opportunity to connect to regular nodes of the RetroShare crypto network. The only exceptions will be those network nodes whose certificate contains the onion address of the Tor network instead of an IP address. Such nodes, unlike regular ones, are called Tor nodes. You can read more about this in the article describing connecting to RetroShare via the Tor network.[13]

Settings section “Transfer” (file sharing):

Settings section “Broadcast”:

Settings section “Folders”:

Settings section “Plugins”:

Settings section “Forum” :

Settings section “Chat” :

Apparently, most will find it more convenient to send a message to the chat by pressing “Ctrl + Enter”, leaving the “Enter” key to move the cursor to a new line in the typing window.

Choosing the default font for chat:

Workpiece. [14]

History 

Reflections on RetroShare

When using a crypto platform for a long time, when solving any pressing everyday problems with its help, you inevitably think about what is in RetroShare the same as everywhere else - in other networks and platforms - and what is distinctive, unique, characteristic only for it. In other words, what is the face of this very impressive communication and file-sharing network RetroShare? In what form does she appear in everyday life?? This somewhat frivolous formulation of the question is justified. RetroShare is a fairly mature system in which, of course, something will change, but the general features and basic design will remain unchanged: it is a completely user-controlled encrypted file sharing and communication platform based on f2f[15]. In other words, RetroShare is a dark network[16]. Sometimes considerations on a given topic have a fairly deep meaning that is not obvious to the surface, which means they can be of some interest to users. We are talking here not only and not so much about the negative or positive features of the network, but about the distinctive features . First of all, it should be noted that the term RetroShare in Russian has, figuratively speaking, a feminine guise: communication platform, crypto platform, data exchange system, file sharing network - all feminine nouns. Even the English word RetroShare - “retroshare” - is tempting to be read precisely as “ Retroshare ,” which, again, is a feminine compound word. 

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This is how the RetroShare crypto platform is seen by its users.
Uncompromising Power 

 
Safety

The essence of RetroShare was embodied in material form by the user Hedgehog .

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Let us introduce the following parameter h : “the weighted average information content of the network per user,” or simply “ the specific information content of the network , ” defined as the ratio of the amount of information available on the network I to the total number of its users N. That is, h = I / N. There is every reason to believe that for RetroShare the h parameter will have one of the highest values ​​among all types of existing file-sharing networks , including, strange as it may sound, eMule and BitTorrent. And there are two reasons for this.
Reason #1With RetroShare, the user once opens anonymous access to folders that do not contain personal information, and never remembers it again. The client checks all shared folders every 15 minutes for new files or the absence of old ones, updates the hash database and then quietly waits for a search request. That is, the RetroShare file-sharing network, in terms of the specifics of resource sharing, works similarly to eMule or DC networks. The BitTorrent network is obviously not a competitor here. How long on average do you store torrents for downloaded files in a torrent client? Why will the specific information content of the RetroShare network be higher than that of eMule? After all, there, too, resources are made available for access by entire local folders.
Reason No. 2 DC, eMule, etc. are publicsemi-decentralized networks. We focus on the “public” attribute, which means that the source of information can be compared with the IP address of a specific user or, worse, a group of users. In RetroShare, with Direct Connect disabled, and similar anonymous networks, nothing definite can be said about the source of the file: maybe our trusted peer is the source, or maybe it’s a transit. Consequently, the user is less concerned about what he has shared, which means that in an anonymous file-sharing network the amount of shared resources per user is potentially higher. In other words, in anonymous networks the user is more free in choosing access folders.

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“When you urgently need to connect a friend, do not have any illusions - this will take a painfully long time.” “I found a random friend in a chat - in 20 seconds he will be connected to you”... The realities of connecting in RetroShare.

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Until 1) effective algorithms for factoring large numbers are developed - the technical aspect; 2) the trusted environment consists of reliable people - the social aspect [ inv. : on at the moment – ​​not necessarily; details see here [!https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/retroshare-tor/!] ],RetroShare is a secure system. Users immersed in the topic of security will say: this is provided that the source code of RetroShare neat and clean, and the compiler that generates the client-server binary code does not contain undocumented features and does exactly what it is prescribed. Users especially immersed in the topic of security will definitely add: this is provided that the operating system and hardware are safe, on which the crypto platform operates.

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The not very active life of the official RetroShare forum[!http://retroshare.sourceforge.net/forum/!] on the open network and sluggish discussions there are a direct consequence of the fact that the vast majority of issues are discussed and resolved in numerous and heated forums within the dark networks. This is both good and bad at the same time. It’s good that users of the crypto network prefer to communicate within it. People respect their own safety and this significantly correlates with the potential of the network. It's bad that the discussions - most of the time very interesting - are not indexed by open network search engines and an outside observer - a potential user - has no way to understand RetroShare. RetroShare's face is somewhat hidden by a mask.

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F2f networks in general and RetroShare in particular have absolute anonymity outside of a trusted environment: the user has access to all information and communication resources of the network, but when DHT is disabled, the ability to identify him is limited to a small group of people. The remaining segment does not even know about the existence of this user within the cryptonetwork. There are two interesting conclusions here: 1) not a single p2p network is capable of ensuring the anonymity of its users; in such networks it is always possible to record the IP addresses of all its participants and, if you have the skills and resources, to compare this or that activity on the Internet with specific people; 2) no matter how quickly and no matter how much the RetroShare network grows, no one can more or less It is less accurate to indicate even such an insignificant, albeit interesting, parameter of a crypto platform as the number of its users - a unique case for TCP/IP networks.

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RetroShare as of mid-August 2014 is primarily a French-speaking platform. Of the 260 more or less regularly updated channels, over 100 contain French-language content - almost half. There are approximately the same number of channels designed for English-speaking users, and yet English is the most common language on the planet. A dozen and a half channels contain German content, and you can count Russian-language channels on one hand, as well as channels for other linguistic groups. The number of users in a network cryptochat for French-speaking users almost always exceeds a similar cryptochat for English-speaking users, but the latter brings together Germans with Spaniards, Czechs with Romanians, Swedes with Russians, and the same French... It’s difficult to say whether the predominance of the French in RetroShare with that

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There are a lot of open and secure networks, platforms, tools and methods for various types of communications on the Internet: Bitmessage - for anonymous message transmission, Tox - for voice and video communication, GPG - for email encryption, Perfect Dark - for file sharing, Tor, i2p, Freenet, etc., etc. (For details, see Prism-break[!https://prism-break.org/ru/!]). RetroShare will be convenient for those who do not have the time and/or desire to keep and manage this entire “zoo” of funds on their computer. RetroShare makes an attempt to combine file sharing, correspondence, and communication in one box. In some ways the execution is successful, in others it’s not so good, and in others there are conceptual limitations. However, RetroShare works.

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The popularity of f2f networks will increase significantly, and communications and file sharing based on them are guaranteed to take center stage as soon as massive precedents for trials of ordinary Internet users on issues of unlicensed distribution of materials protected by copyright are revealed. The legal and ethical side of the issue is not discussed here, according to which authors engaged in the creative process have the right to receive remuneration for their work . The point is that human nature cannot be changed and there will always be people who, for various reasons, are in no hurry to pay for this or that multimedia or text material. Since BitTorrent, eMule or DC networksdo not provide any guarantees of user safety , then at some point anonymous file-sharing networks will come to the fore. Thus, dark networks in general and RetroShare, as their typical representative, currently remain only a fortified outpost of freedom in TCP networks . In other words, RetroShare retains a place on the Internet where a significant portion of users will flock in case of special circumstances related, first of all, to issues of personal safety. Under an assumption that may have nothing to do with reality. Why is it that, despite massive and spectacular attacks on large servers providing file sharing, there are only isolated cases of litigation against ordinary users ?unprotected networks? Litigation with ordinary users is unprofitable, both for media corporations and for individual authors. Large profits are unlikely here, and long prison terms for the defendant do not solve the problem; rather, they create a bad reputation for the plaintiff (copyright holder). The massive scale of precedents for such litigation will lead, as stated above, to a total migration of users to the dark web. The lack of effective algorithms for factoring large numbers, and therefore the impossibility of decrypting traffic and replacing trusted users, gives illusory prospects for further struggle for copyright. Does the above mean that ordinary users of file-sharing networks have nothing to fear? Obviously not. The fight against illegal distribution of content will shift toward “state versus user,” rather than “right holder versus user.”

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RetroShare is like quantum mechanics: once you understand it, it won’t let you go.

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RetroShare is a zone of freedom and equality . The platform is designed in such a way that it does not matter whether you have been using it for years or days, whether you understand cryptography or not - it provides absolutely all users with the same opportunities, resources and potential.

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Any representative of the punitive-detective department, having exchanged a personal certificate with an arbitrary RetroShare node, becomes a full participant in the dark network and has the opportunity to receive information from anonymous sources. Any representative of the punitive-detective department, having exchanged a personal certificate with at least two nodes of the RetroShare network, becomes a transit channel for transmitting encrypted data from all network participants to everyone. At the same time, the newly-minted transit node does not have the ability to link encrypted packets transmitted through its computer with any of the nodes known to it. This is convenient, since punitive and detective departments usually have a good Internet connection.

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<“Distinctive features” are inconsistent and a little unrelated, since the material is constantly supplemented and clarified>[! https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2014/07/29/thoughts-about-retroshare/ !] 

Giant fb2 library on an anonymous network 

The authors took the liberty of publishing a slightly modified text from the open segment of the anonymous RetroShare network, including its “non-protocol” part. On March 6, 2016, a huge library of scientific and fiction literature,
with a total of 319,988 books (299 GB), became available on the anonymous network. Each of the 320 thousand books is posted separately ; there is probably no precedent for this either in open or secure networks. Each book is easily accessible through the RetroShare search service, and the entire library can be downloaded using collection files.
All published files are divided into 7 blocks according to the names of the authors: Block 1. A–B (50 GB, 53341 books)Block 2. G–Y (46 GB, 47314 books) Block 3. K–L (45 GB, 46078 books) Block 4. M–P (45 GB, 47021 books) Block 5. R–U (44 GB, 47724 books) Block 6. F–Y (40 GB, 37874 books) Block 7. Foreign literature (29 GB, 40636 books)
The file names are as follows:
Doren F. - The most (1989, drama).fb2 Do S. — Comprehending Eternity (2013).fb2 Doszhan D. — The Silk Road (1983, story).fb2 Doskin V. A. — Biorhythms, or How to become healthy (2014, health and beauty).fb2Doskin V. A. — Biorhythms for health. How to improve your condition according to the biological clock (medicine).fb2 Doskin V. A. - Development and education of children in orphanages (2007, scientific literature).fb2 Doskin V. A. - Rehabilitation of children in orphanages (2007, scientific literature) .fb2 Doskova L. - Personnel management (2008, management, personnel selection).fb2 Doskikova H. - The Mole and the Green Star (fairy tale).fb2 Dostavalov A. V. - On the other side (alternative history).fb2 Dostavalov A. - Burn from the mirror (2009, fiction).fb2 Dostavalov A. - On the other side (2000, alternative history).fb2 Dost M. M. - How many legs does a monkey have; (film script).fb2 Dostov A. - History (genre not specified).fb2 Dostov A. - Birth (genre not specified).fb2Dostovalov Yu. - Taiga Gambit (2010, historical adventures).fb2 Dostoevskaya. - Memoirs (vintage editions).fb2 Dostoevskaya A. G. - Memoirs (1987, biographies and memoirs).fb2 Dostoevsky A. M. - Memoirs (1999, biographies and memoirs).fb2 Dostoevsky F. M. - Poor people (1845 , Russian classical prose).fb2 Dostoevsky F. M. - White Nights (1848, classical prose).fb2 Dostoevsky F. M. - Demons (1871, Russian classical prose).fb2 Dostoevsky F. M. - Demons (classical prose) .fb2 Dostoevsky F. M. - Bobok (prose).fb2
The event deserves mention both for its magnitude and for some additional information published by the author. We quote:

Now the information is not for the record, but, so to speak, for internal consumption. This library is a “clean-up” clone of one of the largest fb2 libraries available on the dangerous network. And at the moment (March 6, 2016), according to their information, the database contains 582 thousand books. I declare responsibly: this is false information. The program I wrote to extract book details from fb2 file tags, analyze titles, and in fact identify duplicate books, gives the value indicated above: 319988. This means that their value exceeds the real one by at least 82%. Why "at least"? Because in the presented version there are also quite a few duplicates (3–5%), however, identifying them will require not machine, but manual work, which, of course, is almost impossible for one person to do, and there is no reason to. Second. Noted, that the contents of the update archive for February (the most recent update) are made disgracefully: the tags are inserted clumsily, the information in the tags is often chaotic and out of place, the fb2 specification is not maintained in many files. Therefore, I had to do some manual work so that the books and file names themselves did not look completely unusable. Third. Specifically, in the block for February there are many files of dubious artistic value: short, if I may say so, works on the topic “How I saw a girl in the city and then communicated with her on a social network.” There is a suspicion that after the New Year, schoolchildren took a fancy to the opportunity to promote their own click-picking through this library. If things continue like this, does it make sense to dilute a still good library with crap? And, returning to the more important topic of disk space, occupied by the library. Here[!https://forum/?name=Flibusta_01.12.2015&id=58c4700314808fdd3e948094e4889c81&msgid=8c3b8e910e21944b538eb956808750d20a9ba0a2!] one good person publishes another fb2 library about with a capacity of 405 GB. Leaving aside the question of a significant correlation between libraries published on the dark web, I will make the assumption that in this library the percentage of repetitions is approaching 100. That is, the number of original books and the number of their exact or approximate copies (there, as a rule, only fb2- tags) are in a 1:1 ratio. There is only one conclusion: it is worth choosing identical content for distribution, but smaller in volume. In this case, there is a higher chance that someone will want to duplicate the content on their machine. 2015&id=58c4700314808fdd3e948094e4889c81&msgid=8c3b8e910e21944b538eb956808750d20a9ba0a2!] one good person publishes another fb2 library with a capacity of 405 GB. Leaving aside the question of a significant correlation between libraries published on the dark web, I will make the assumption that in this library the percentage of repetitions is approaching 100. That is, the number of original books and the number of their exact or approximate copies (there, as a rule, only fb2- tags) are in a 1:1 ratio. There is only one conclusion: it is worth choosing identical content for distribution, but smaller in volume. In this case, there is a higher chance that someone will want to duplicate the content on their machine. 2015&id=58c4700314808fdd3e948094e4889c81&msgid=8c3b8e910e21944b538eb956808750d20a9ba0a2!] one good person publishes another fb2 library with a capacity of 405 GB. Leaving aside the question of a significant correlation between libraries published on the dark web, I will make the assumption that in this library the percentage of repetitions is approaching 100. That is, the number of original books and the number of their exact or approximate copies (there, as a rule, only fb2- tags) are in a 1:1 ratio. There is only one conclusion: it is worth choosing identical content for distribution, but smaller in volume. In this case, there is a higher chance that someone will want to duplicate the content on their machine. Leaving aside the question of a significant correlation between libraries published on the dark web, I will make the assumption that in this library the percentage of repetitions is approaching 100. That is, the number of original books and the number of their exact or approximate copies (there, as a rule, only fb2- tags) are in a 1:1 ratio. There is only one conclusion: it is worth choosing identical content for distribution, but smaller in volume. In this case, there is a higher chance that someone will want to duplicate the content on their machine. Leaving aside the question of a significant correlation between libraries published on the dark web, I will make the assumption that in this library the percentage of repetitions is approaching 100. That is, the number of original books and the number of their exact or approximate copies (there, as a rule, only fb2- tags) are in a 1:1 ratio. There is only one conclusion: it is worth choosing identical content for distribution, but smaller in volume. In this case, there is a higher chance that someone will want to duplicate the content on their machine. only fb2 tags differ) are in a 1:1 ratio. There is only one conclusion: it is worth choosing identical content for distribution, but smaller in volume. In this case, there is a higher chance that someone will want to duplicate the content on their machine. only fb2 tags differ) are in a 1:1 ratio. There is only one conclusion: it is worth choosing identical content for distribution, but smaller in volume. In this case, there is a higher chance that someone will want to duplicate the content on their machine.

The style of the message has been preserved. The entire library is available 24 hours a day. Download, read, learn something new. I must say, there is a lot of interesting reading there. (Although there is plenty of outright graphomania.) Don’t forget to save the downloaded content in a folder to which, at a minimum, anonymous access is open! This will make the library more distributed, and therefore more accessible. Enjoy it for your health. The smarter we are, the happier those around us are.
By on March 8, 2016 [! https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/fb2-library/!]

News RetroShare

 See here: old news - https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2014/08/03/retroshare-news/recent news - https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/retroshare-news- 2/

Notes

1

https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/retroshare-for-people/ ( back )

2

https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/retroshare-tor/ ( back )

3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_sharing_applications ( back )

4

https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2014/10/25/tribler/ ( back )

5

https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2014/08/03/retroshare-news/ ( back )

6

https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/rs-quick-entering/ ( back )

7

https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/retroshare-tor/ ( back )

8

Original article: https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2014/10/06/simple-retroshare/ ( back )

9

https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/retroshare-tor/ ( back )

10

https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2015/05/04/retroshare-news-2/
You can also use the official program page: http://retroshare.sourceforge.net/downloads.html ( back )

11

Even if you haven’t added anyone other than the chat robot, it can be used to anonymously search the files of other participants who have become friends with it. Give it a try. ;) ( back )

12

Original manual: https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/rs-quick-entering/ ( back )

13

https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/retroshare-tor/ ( back )

14

Original manual: https://adorabilis.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/customizing-retroshare/ ( back )

15

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F2F ( back )

16

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darknet_%28file_sharing%29 ( back )

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