From c17217699eff8f766d8fb471cd07fdb005d891f5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Brian Warner Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2016 09:18:47 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] docs: improve reveal-IP-address description --- docs/configuration.rst | 20 ++++++++++++++------ 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-) diff --git a/docs/configuration.rst b/docs/configuration.rst index 1bc974496..5fefbe136 100644 --- a/docs/configuration.rst +++ b/docs/configuration.rst @@ -336,9 +336,20 @@ set the ``tub.location`` option described below. ``reveal-IP-address = (boolean, optional, defaults to True)`` - This is a safety flag. If False, any of the following configuration - problems will cause ``tahoe start`` to throw a PrivacyError instead of - starting the node: + This is a safety flag. When set to False (aka "private mode"), the node + will refuse to start if any of the other configuration options would + reveal the node's IP address to servers or the external network. This + flag does not directly affect the node's behavior: its only power is to + veto node startup when something looks unsafe. + + The default is True (non-private mode), because setting it to False + requires the installation of additional libraries (use ``pip install + tahoe-lafs[tor]`` and/or ``pip install tahoe-lafs[i2p]`` to get them) as + well as additional non-python software (Tor/I2P daemons). Performance is + also generally reduced when operating in private mode. + + When False, any of the following configuration problems will cause + ``tahoe start`` to throw a PrivacyError instead of starting the node: * ``[node] tub.location`` contains any ``tcp:`` hints @@ -348,9 +359,6 @@ set the ``tub.location`` option described below. * ``[connections] tcp =`` is set to ``tcp`` (or left as the default), rather than being set to ``tor`` - These configuration problems would reveal the node's IP address to - servers and external networks. - Connection Management =====================