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Hey smoyer! Ian from FreePN here - > And why exactly should we trust FreePN? I'm not qualified to do a security audit on the OSS code and unless you pay someon

by freepn 7y ago

Hey smoyer! Ian from FreePN here - > And why exactly should we trust FreePN? I'm not qualified to do a security audit on the OSS code and unless you pay someone who's really good at cryptography, I think that statement applies to the rest of your users. That's a fair concern. We're a pretty small team at the moment, so haven't yet had a chance to get an independent security audit done (though we do intend to do so after we launch our alpha in around a month). Our service is built on top of ZeroTier though (they haven't had a third-party audit, but the founder does write a lot about their security from time to time: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=api https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=api). We decided to make all of our code for the network open-source as a show of good faith - we're trying to do everything with FreePN as transparently as possible (which I feel is important, being a security / privacy product), while still making it easy-to-use for less-techy people. If you have any suggestions for how we can improve our messaging feel free to shoot me an email (in profile).

smoyer 7y ago
"FreePN is the only completely free, fast, secure, anonymous, unlimited-bandwith VPN. It's also open-source." is already a mouthful but I think what caught my eye when reading through the FAQ is that it's peer-to-peer. At that point, I think the integrity of the client is key (as noted above) and I think (as I'm imagining it) the idea that there's a coordinating server doesn't really scare me. I also find it interesting that you don't accept fiat currencies as donations. Wouldn't these funds be useful when hiring a third-party auditor? Could a crowd-funding campaign be used to fund the auditor? If you trust the coordinating server and that the client is both trustworthy and invulnerable, then I think it would be cool to have a ticker on your main web-site with two numbers ... the number of clients downloaded and the number of connections started through the coordinator in the last x period of time.
- freepn 7y ago
  > Wouldn't these funds be useful when hiring a third-party auditor? Could a crowd-funding campaign be used to fund the auditor? Actually that's a fair point & good idea I hadn't really considered. I'll update the contribution FAQ section with a link to PayPal soon! > it would be cool to have a ticker on your main web-site with two numbers ... the number of clients downloaded and the number of connections started through the coordinator in the last x period of time I love this also. Once we launch the alpha will 100% incorporate these into the landing page in some form!
  - smoyer 7y ago
    Let me know when you can accept USD and I'll be your first (small) donor!
    - freepn 7y ago
      Hi smoyer! We took your advice and are starting to accept fiat currencies donations. Made a PayPal page - https://www.paypal.me/freepn https://www.paypal.me/freepn. Added the link to our website so that we can start collecting funds to pay for a security audit post-launch. Thanks for your help and support! We really appreciate it!
      - smoyer 7y ago
        The payment link you included on HN works ... the link from the FAQ gives a 404.

by freepn 7y ago

smoyer 7y ago

"FreePN is the only completely free, fast, secure, anonymous, unlimited-bandwith VPN. It's also open-source." is already a mouthful but I think what caught my eye when reading through the FAQ is that it's peer-to-peer. At that point, I think the integrity of the client is key (as noted above) and I think (as I'm imagining it) the idea that there's a coordinating server doesn't really scare me. I also find it interesting that you don't accept fiat currencies as donations. Wouldn't these funds be useful when hiring a third-party auditor? Could a crowd-funding campaign be used to fund the auditor? If you trust the coordinating server and that the client is both trustworthy and invulnerable, then I think it would be cool to have a ticker on your main web-site with two numbers ... the number of clients downloaded and the number of connections started through the coordinator in the last x period of time.

freepn 7y ago
> Wouldn't these funds be useful when hiring a third-party auditor? Could a crowd-funding campaign be used to fund the auditor? Actually that's a fair point & good idea I hadn't really considered. I'll update the contribution FAQ section with a link to PayPal soon! > it would be cool to have a ticker on your main web-site with two numbers ... the number of clients downloaded and the number of connections started through the coordinator in the last x period of time I love this also. Once we launch the alpha will 100% incorporate these into the landing page in some form!
- smoyer 7y ago
  Let me know when you can accept USD and I'll be your first (small) donor!
  - freepn 7y ago
    Hi smoyer! We took your advice and are starting to accept fiat currencies donations. Made a PayPal page - https://www.paypal.me/freepn https://www.paypal.me/freepn. Added the link to our website so that we can start collecting funds to pay for a security audit post-launch. Thanks for your help and support! We really appreciate it!
    - smoyer 7y ago
      The payment link you included on HN works ... the link from the FAQ gives a 404.