On Friday, October 11, 2019, 02:26:27 PM PDT, John Newman
   <jnn@synfin.org> wrote:

   On Fri, Oct 11, 2019 at 09:05:00PM +0000, jim bell wrote:
   > Somebody asked me a question, but because I am far from being an
   expert, I couldn't answer.   Suppose a person wanted to implement a TOR
   node, simply by buying some box, and plugging it into his modem, and
   power.  And NOT needing to become an expert on TOR, or even on
   computers in general.  And NOT having to follow pages and pages of
   instructions.   I did a few minutes of searching, and even the 'simple'
   explanations seemed 'clear as mud'.
   > Don't bother with long explanations challenging the usefulness, or
   trustworthiness of TOR.   Yes, we've discussed them to death.  That's a
   different subject.                    Jim Bell
   >On FreeBSD, it's as simple as running the following commands as root
   ># install tor
   pkg install tor
   ># set appropriate variables, there aren't too many to get going and
   # you can find them all well documented
   vi /usr/local/etc/tor/torrc
   ># update your rc.conf so the service will start at boot, then start it
   sysrc tor_enable=YES
   service tor start
   >For an idea of what the torrc file should look like, here is mine with
   a
   few bits XXX'd out. My node is specifically configured not to allow
   exit
   traffic because it was generating a lot of complaints upstream about my
   host trying to hack peoples shit, etc :)
   ># cat /usr/local/etc/tor/torrc | egrep -v "^$|^#"
   SocksPort 9050
   SocksPolicy accept 127.0.0.1
   SocksPolicy reject *
   Log notice file /var/log/tor/notices.log
   RunAsDaemon 1
   DataDirectory /var/db/tor
   ControlPort 9051
   HashedControlPassword XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
   ORPort 9023
   Exitpolicy reject *:*  # too many complaints :)
   Nickname twentysevendollars
   Address wintermute.synfin.org
   OutboundBindAddress 198.154.106.54
   RelayBandwidthRate 3265 KBytes  # playing with this
   RelayBandwidthBurst 4355 KBytes # ditto
   ContactInfo 0CA8B961 John Torman <tor @ synfin dot org>
   DirPort 9030 # what port to advertise for directory connections
   MyFamily XXXXXXXXXXXXX
   >If you were doing this on Linux, it would be much the same. Replace
   the
   "pkg install" with "apt-get install" or "yum install" or whatever, you
   might have to add a tor repo or something. The config file probably
   won't live under /usr/local/etc/tor, but just /etc/tor, and you'll use
   systemctl rather than just updating the rc.conf with sysrc.
   >I would not recommend you run an exit node from your home ;)
   Yes, even years ago I was aware that a person shouldn't try to run an
   Exit node on a home setup.  Although, I wonder if it has been tried?
   Sounds like a good beginning for a Wired article?   After writing that,
   I found:   [1]https://blog.torproject.org/tips-running-exit-node
   No way!!!
   But you didn't answer my question.  I said a simple box, and that is
   precisely what I meant.   Power, Ethernet.  Plug into existing Modem.
    Okay, I would understand it if the operator had to link it to the
   network by accessing a web page and informing them of the new IP
   address, but that's the level of complexity I was thinking about.
   (Except for a box that already "knows" how to link up and start
   running.)
   Could one of the problems with the TOR network be that only "experts"
   are likely to participate?
   Also note:  I am referring to a situation where a person does not need,
   and does not want, the benefit of TOR for himself;  Just wants to add
   his "brick in the wall" to the nodes.  Has a spare $100 or so for the
   box, and has unlimited-usage gigabit/second Internet service.  (I see
   that Centurylink provides them for $65/month, probably subject to tax,
   as well.)
                      Jim Bell

References

   1. https://blog.torproject.org/tips-running-exit-node