Tent v0.1 released [LWN.net]

Tent v0.1 released

Posted Sep 22, 2012 13:03 UTC (Sat) by tao (subscriber, #17563)
In reply to: Tent v0.1 released by job
Parent article: Tent v0.1 released

"Mail just works for almost everyone." doesn't mean that there isn't heavy filtering in place though.

A lot of people use web based e-mail (gmail, hotmail, etc.). I'd wager most others either use pop or imap from their providers; very few -- if any -- "normal" users have their own web servers. Very few "normal" users use IRC.

Besides, even if your home operator would allow all types of traffic, you cannot rely on that everywhere. Ever tried ssh:ing from the free wifi most cafés offer these days? Or the pay for use wifi you can find at most airports?

(Log in to post comments)

Tent v0.1 released

Posted Sep 23, 2012 5:38 UTC (Sun) by butlerm (subscriber, #13312) [Link]

Many if not most ISPs block inbound HTTP to those without static IP addresses. It won't make a difference to the vast majority of users who do not run their own servers, but to those that do, it is hard to see how choosing inbound HTTP over practically any other (UDP or TCP based) server protocol is likely to make any difference on the filtering front.

If you want to operate a "server" without the cooperation of your local ISP or firewall administrator, about your only option is to establish a long lived outbound connection to some sort of proxy server, or worse. I take it that is not what is going on here - requiring a proxy server would defeat the purpose, and requiring outbound connections to every server that might want to communicate with you doesn't scale.