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Well, my script is free + open source, so I think "advertisement" has some connotations that aren't quite fair :-) It's not really "my" software - all the real

Well, my script is free + open source, so I think "advertisement" has some connotations that aren't quite fair :-) It's not really "my" software - all the real work is done by OpenSSH, which is heavily reviewed, supports NAT traversal, and you probably already have it installed. All credit to OpenSSH, all faults are my own. I would love it if this prompted a discussion of this "VPN" strategy, and my script's functionality found its way into core SSH. It's definitely not appropriate for doing something illegal or where you want plausible deniability for other reasons. I point that out fairly clearly in the README, though I should have made it clearer in the blog. I would wager though that many VPNs don't actually offer much more security than this. The good ones (LavaBit, CryptoSeal) did. How do you verify that your VPN provider isn't handing over this information just as readily as this approach does? Generating false traffic is a good idea, but I don't think you should rely on that if you want to use this for illegal purposes.

nilved 13y ago
Sorry, perhaps linkbait was a better term. I can't comment on the software itself, but the title is unrelated to the content.
- justinsb 13y ago
  No worries! I'm sorry you felt the title was unrelated; I like more "flowery" titles, and we have the "same title" rule on HN. The point I was trying to make with the title is that OpenSSH does a lot of what a full "VPN" does, yet is a _lot_ easier to configure than anything else I've encountered. Apart from PPTP, which is apparently the "rlogin" of VPNs ;-) free652 posted an even easier approach here, which sets up a SOCKS proxy with no extra configuration. If SOCKS is good enough, you should use that! If you want full tunneling, hopefully we can make my script easier / unnecessary.
- StavrosK 13y ago
  Nah, I didn't read it that way. It seems to me it says "hey, OpenSSH can already do tunnels very effectively, but it's not very easy, so here's a quick script I wrote to make it easier". The author gain to reader gain is really, really low in this case, so I don't think it's content-free linkbait.
gonzo 13y ago
Lavabit was not a VPN service. It was a (poorly implemented) "secure email" service.
- justinsb 13y ago
  You're right; my mistake. Sorry.

nilved 13y ago

Sorry, perhaps linkbait was a better term. I can't comment on the software itself, but the title is unrelated to the content.

justinsb 13y ago
No worries! I'm sorry you felt the title was unrelated; I like more "flowery" titles, and we have the "same title" rule on HN. The point I was trying to make with the title is that OpenSSH does a lot of what a full "VPN" does, yet is a _lot_ easier to configure than anything else I've encountered. Apart from PPTP, which is apparently the "rlogin" of VPNs ;-) free652 posted an even easier approach here, which sets up a SOCKS proxy with no extra configuration. If SOCKS is good enough, you should use that! If you want full tunneling, hopefully we can make my script easier / unnecessary.
StavrosK 13y ago
Nah, I didn't read it that way. It seems to me it says "hey, OpenSSH can already do tunnels very effectively, but it's not very easy, so here's a quick script I wrote to make it easier". The author gain to reader gain is really, really low in this case, so I don't think it's content-free linkbait.

gonzo 13y ago

Lavabit was not a VPN service. It was a (poorly implemented) "secure email" service.

justinsb 13y ago
You're right; my mistake. Sorry.