Difference between revisions of "Frequently asked questions"
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| + | == What is Titan? == | ||
| + | |||
| + | During the development of Demonsaw 4, the product was referred to as Titan. You'll notice in the About box of Demonsaw 4, it's the "Titan Edition" | ||
| + | |||
== Why isn't Demonsaw 4 open source? == | == Why isn't Demonsaw 4 open source? == | ||
| − | + | Eijah, the creator and developer, with his trusty developer-god-in-training Cammy, didn't make it open source... yet.<br/> | |
| + | Demonsaw 1 through 3 are open sourced and available on [https://github.com/demonsaw/Code Github], Demonsaw 4 was opted not to be open source at this time. | ||
| + | |||
| + | == If it's not open source how can I trust it? == | ||
| − | + | Trusting an application simply because it's open source may not be as safe as you think. Many encrypted communication services that are open source, open source just the client applications. You don't get to see the server source code, or even run your own server. Supposing for a moment the client is completely secure, there's no telling what kind of metadata is being collected by the vendor when you use that software. With Demonsaw you have complete control of the environment. You can run the router, and direct clients to the official download links. You can monitor your environment for suspicious activity or better, block connections to/from untrusted sources. With that level of control over all facets of the infrastructure, you can decide for yourself if you trust the software since you can monitor all of it. | |
| − | + | This point can be argued indefinitely, it's a matter of choice. If you only trust open source software, than Demonsaw 4 may not be a solution for you at this time. Please try out Demonsaw 3 and build your own router and client from source. | |
| − | + | But if there's any comfort, here are some tests:<br/> | |
| + | :[https://www.virustotal.com/#/file/10373a4a7048f27ac3e2f9345fdf75a07e330d5e2ddeafc07b2bed93cb4b0a70/detection Demonsaw 4 client(win64) on VirusTotal.com] | ||
| + | :[https://www.reverse.it/sample/7b65d93c8303f309c72246bb3154ee33654186bcbc8b412861cae57c1ae0da15?environmentId=100 Demonsaw 4 client(win32) on Reverse.it] | ||
| + | :[https://www.virustotal.com/#/file/f2258d4bcc106e44df98f9bf9bf7446aff2e60cbc1f73d04c810d7bb32b9081b/detection Demonsaw 4 router(win64) on VirusTotal.com] | ||
| + | :[https://www.reverse.it/sample/7ca08bdae2e89d469cd56243256f8dda56774fe96edf2a91cb841089b98dc976?environmentId=100 Demonsaw 4 router(win32) on Reverse.it] | ||
| − | == Why do some people have a check on | + | == Why do some people have a check mark next their name on the public/default router? == |
| − | The check mark just means verified. Verified users have a bit of crypto in their configuration files and the router validates them. This is similar to the technology used by the Groups in Demonsaw 4, but instead of another client validating it (by matching it and being in the same group), the router validates it and puts a check next to their name. On the public/default Demonsaw 4 router, verified users are people trusted by Eijah to support the community. | + | The check mark just means verified. [[Verified users]] have a bit of crypto in their configuration files and the router validates them. This is similar to the technology used by the Groups in Demonsaw 4, but instead of another client validating it (by matching it and being in the same group), the router validates it and puts a check mark next to their name. On the public/default Demonsaw 4 router, verified users are people trusted by Eijah to support the community. |
== Are verified users admins? == | == Are verified users admins? == | ||
| − | Verified users are not admins. They cannot ban/kick/block/global mute or anything more than a normal user can do. They have no additional access to the routers and | + | Verified users are not admins. They cannot ban/kick/block/global mute or anything more than a normal user can do. They have no additional access to the routers at all. The only difference is that they cannot get the <nowiki>[TROLL]</nowiki> or <nowiki>[SPAM]</nowiki> tag. |
| + | |||
| + | == Do Demonsaw routers have admins? == | ||
| + | |||
| + | Demonsaw routers don't have any admin functions, but there is an infrastructure administrator for the Demonsaw public network. The public router is slightly different than the router that you can run on your own. Due to excessive trolling in previous Demonsaw versions there spawned a need for the public router to associate sessions to client names and IP addresses to facilitate in banning abusive users. Demonsaw is a free product, and the public routers cost Eijah money to operate. This free service has one hidden cost, and that is if you are in the public lobby on the public router, the infrastructure admin can see your IP address and the associated client name. If you are abusive, or otherwise disturbing the community, you will be banned at the administrator's discresion. Users in private groups on the public router are not exposed in this manner. The public lobby on the public router is designed as a free service to help welcome you to Demonsaw as its primary function. Its use is a privilege, not a right. Demonsaw provides you a router binary and clients to create your own network. Running your own network, or at least being in a group on the public router is where you see Demonsaw flourish in anonymity and privacy. | ||
== If verified users aren't any different, why even have them? == | == If verified users aren't any different, why even have them? == | ||
| Line 27: | Line 42: | ||
== Can router admins see my IP address? == | == Can router admins see my IP address? == | ||
| − | Yes, because of the way the internet works, | + | Yes, because of the way the internet works, clients connecting to Demonsaw (any version) routers, will expose their IP address. |
== How is Demonsaw anonymous if my IP is visible to the router? == | == How is Demonsaw anonymous if my IP is visible to the router? == | ||
| Line 35: | Line 50: | ||
== Can another client see my IP address? == | == Can another client see my IP address? == | ||
| − | No, all communications are client-server. You never make a direct connection to | + | No, all communications are client-server. You never make a direct connection to other clients. When you join a Demonsaw router, the router creates a human-obfuscated session hash for that client. This is only retained in memory and not logged. This session hash also has a group entropy hash linked to it. If you set up a group entropy, it's based on that, otherwise the default is used. When a message is sent from a client, the router gets that message and sends it -- encrypted at the client level by the local entropy -- to the other client sessions matching the entropy hash. The router cannot decrypt these messages, and since a client's only communication is with the router, no client is ever exposed to your IP address. |
| + | |||
| + | == What does the different download/upload colors mean? == | ||
| + | |||
| + | If there is any color other than green, a message will appear in the <code>Errors</code> tab further explaining what happened. If you have problems, look for solutions here on the [[Errors]] page! | ||
| + | |||
| + | * <code style="background:green">Green</code> = Success | ||
| + | * <code style="background:yellow">Yellow</code> = Unsuccessful/incomplete chunk transfer, retry imminent | ||
| + | * <code style="background:red">Red</code> = Error | ||
| + | * <code style="color:white;background:blue">Blue</code> = Connecting | ||
| + | * <code style="background:white">White</code> = Transfer not yet initiated | ||
| + | * <code style="color:white;background:black">Black</code> = Timed out - This will happen after 180 seconds with no activity, and will automatically retry 5 times. If no progress has been made within 5 retries of the given file, the transfer will fail, and must be manually re-initiated. | ||
| + | |||
| + | == My uploads keep timing out, why? == | ||
| + | |||
| + | Since transfers are agnostic (i.e. clients don't know what clients they talk to), an interrupted/timed out transfer will reset the session. However, the downloader know what chunks it has, and what it's missing. So the downloader will retry, and request the chunks it's missing again. But the uploader is unaware of who's requesting these chunks, and if the downloader already has any chunks or not. So it creates a new transfer, and start uploading chunks again as a new transfer. This will show up in the uploader's GUI as a new file transfer, but it will look like the same transfer in the downloader's GUI.<br/> | ||
| + | There is nothing to fret when your uploads time out. The downloader will simply re-request its missing chunks. And all the uploader's transfers of the same file should accumulate to 100%, given the file doesn't have several uploaders. | ||
| + | |||
| + | == Your question is not here? == | ||
| + | You can [https://titan.wiki/index.php?title=Contact_Us contact cool people here], or post your question on [https://www.reddit.com/r/Demonsaw/ our Reddit]. | ||
Latest revision as of 17:49, 6 November 2019
Contents
- 1 What is Titan?
- 2 Why isn't Demonsaw 4 open source?
- 3 If it's not open source how can I trust it?
- 4 Why do some people have a check mark next their name on the public/default router?
- 5 Are verified users admins?
- 6 Do Demonsaw routers have admins?
- 7 If verified users aren't any different, why even have them?
- 8 Can verified users see my IP address?
- 9 Can router admins see my IP address?
- 10 How is Demonsaw anonymous if my IP is visible to the router?
- 11 Can another client see my IP address?
- 12 What does the different download/upload colors mean?
- 13 My uploads keep timing out, why?
- 14 Your question is not here?
What is Titan?
During the development of Demonsaw 4, the product was referred to as Titan. You'll notice in the About box of Demonsaw 4, it's the "Titan Edition"
Why isn't Demonsaw 4 open source?
Eijah, the creator and developer, with his trusty developer-god-in-training Cammy, didn't make it open source... yet.
Demonsaw 1 through 3 are open sourced and available on Github, Demonsaw 4 was opted not to be open source at this time.
If it's not open source how can I trust it?
Trusting an application simply because it's open source may not be as safe as you think. Many encrypted communication services that are open source, open source just the client applications. You don't get to see the server source code, or even run your own server. Supposing for a moment the client is completely secure, there's no telling what kind of metadata is being collected by the vendor when you use that software. With Demonsaw you have complete control of the environment. You can run the router, and direct clients to the official download links. You can monitor your environment for suspicious activity or better, block connections to/from untrusted sources. With that level of control over all facets of the infrastructure, you can decide for yourself if you trust the software since you can monitor all of it.
This point can be argued indefinitely, it's a matter of choice. If you only trust open source software, than Demonsaw 4 may not be a solution for you at this time. Please try out Demonsaw 3 and build your own router and client from source.
But if there's any comfort, here are some tests:
- Demonsaw 4 client(win64) on VirusTotal.com
- Demonsaw 4 client(win32) on Reverse.it
- Demonsaw 4 router(win64) on VirusTotal.com
- Demonsaw 4 router(win32) on Reverse.it
Why do some people have a check mark next their name on the public/default router?
The check mark just means verified. Verified users have a bit of crypto in their configuration files and the router validates them. This is similar to the technology used by the Groups in Demonsaw 4, but instead of another client validating it (by matching it and being in the same group), the router validates it and puts a check mark next to their name. On the public/default Demonsaw 4 router, verified users are people trusted by Eijah to support the community.
Are verified users admins?
Verified users are not admins. They cannot ban/kick/block/global mute or anything more than a normal user can do. They have no additional access to the routers at all. The only difference is that they cannot get the [TROLL] or [SPAM] tag.
Do Demonsaw routers have admins?
Demonsaw routers don't have any admin functions, but there is an infrastructure administrator for the Demonsaw public network. The public router is slightly different than the router that you can run on your own. Due to excessive trolling in previous Demonsaw versions there spawned a need for the public router to associate sessions to client names and IP addresses to facilitate in banning abusive users. Demonsaw is a free product, and the public routers cost Eijah money to operate. This free service has one hidden cost, and that is if you are in the public lobby on the public router, the infrastructure admin can see your IP address and the associated client name. If you are abusive, or otherwise disturbing the community, you will be banned at the administrator's discresion. Users in private groups on the public router are not exposed in this manner. The public lobby on the public router is designed as a free service to help welcome you to Demonsaw as its primary function. Its use is a privilege, not a right. Demonsaw provides you a router binary and clients to create your own network. Running your own network, or at least being in a group on the public router is where you see Demonsaw flourish in anonymity and privacy.
If verified users aren't any different, why even have them?
Verification allows for a reasonable assurance that the user you are communicating with is the same person from session to session. On the public/default router, the verified users are people that participated in the Demonsaw 4 Alpha/Beta program. They have shown consistent contribution to the community and are trusted by Eijah to support and help the community prosper.
Can verified users see my IP address?
No, your IP address is only visible at the router level. Verified users do not have access to the router.
Can router admins see my IP address?
Yes, because of the way the internet works, clients connecting to Demonsaw (any version) routers, will expose their IP address.
How is Demonsaw anonymous if my IP is visible to the router?
The router can only see a connected IP address. Routers don't readily associate a client session hash to an IP at a human-readable level, so associating routers to people is not a trivial exercise. Even if this were done, the routers are ignorant to the data they forward as communications are end-to-end encrypted.
Can another client see my IP address?
No, all communications are client-server. You never make a direct connection to other clients. When you join a Demonsaw router, the router creates a human-obfuscated session hash for that client. This is only retained in memory and not logged. This session hash also has a group entropy hash linked to it. If you set up a group entropy, it's based on that, otherwise the default is used. When a message is sent from a client, the router gets that message and sends it -- encrypted at the client level by the local entropy -- to the other client sessions matching the entropy hash. The router cannot decrypt these messages, and since a client's only communication is with the router, no client is ever exposed to your IP address.
What does the different download/upload colors mean?
If there is any color other than green, a message will appear in the Errors tab further explaining what happened. If you have problems, look for solutions here on the Errors page!
Green= SuccessYellow= Unsuccessful/incomplete chunk transfer, retry imminentRed= ErrorBlue= ConnectingWhite= Transfer not yet initiatedBlack= Timed out - This will happen after 180 seconds with no activity, and will automatically retry 5 times. If no progress has been made within 5 retries of the given file, the transfer will fail, and must be manually re-initiated.
My uploads keep timing out, why?
Since transfers are agnostic (i.e. clients don't know what clients they talk to), an interrupted/timed out transfer will reset the session. However, the downloader know what chunks it has, and what it's missing. So the downloader will retry, and request the chunks it's missing again. But the uploader is unaware of who's requesting these chunks, and if the downloader already has any chunks or not. So it creates a new transfer, and start uploading chunks again as a new transfer. This will show up in the uploader's GUI as a new file transfer, but it will look like the same transfer in the downloader's GUI.
There is nothing to fret when your uploads time out. The downloader will simply re-request its missing chunks. And all the uploader's transfers of the same file should accumulate to 100%, given the file doesn't have several uploaders.
Your question is not here?
You can contact cool people here, or post your question on our Reddit.
