RetroShare

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RetroShare
Basic data

developer RetroShare team
Publishing year 2006
Current  version 0.6.5
(February 12, 2019)
operating system Windows from Windows XP, Linux , Mac OS X , FreeBSD
programming language C and C ++
category Chat , instant messenger , e-mail , newsgroups , anonymous / file sharing , Darknet , Voice over IP , video conference , social network , Internet relay chat
License GNU GPL ( Free Software )
German speaking Yes
retroshare.github.io

RetroShare is a free computer program that enables various encrypted communication options and serverless file sharing between friends ( friend-to-friend ) and beyond. It is not a strict Darknet program, because information and files can be exchanged anonymously via turtle routing even with friends who are not directly connected on the second, third, fourth ... level . RetroShare can also use hidden services over the Tor and I2P network to create a so-called hidden node, whose IP address is then anonymized even for the friends on the first level . Friends are reliably identified and authenticated in the friends list using RSA keys. RetroShare provides several instant messaging -Möglichkeiten, an email client , IP telephony (VoIP), video conferencing , Feed Reader , and internal forums and channels by which public notices or anonymously to friends and groups can be sent. All information and files are exchanged without central services such as B. Server and is encrypted via OpenSSL .

properties

Authentication and connection

When you start RetroShare for the first time, it creates a user account and the corresponding OpenPGP key. A node is then created for this user account, which cannot establish any connections to friends for the time being and which rejects all external connection attempts. A connection can only be established when the key is exchanged with other nodes of friends. If nodes that were not added to the friend list attempt to establish a connection, the connection will be rejected. Connections are only established to nodes that you have manually added to your friends list. With one user account you can also create several nodes on different computers and make friends with one another.

The OpenPGP keys of the user accounts can be exchanged and authenticated by friends (see also: Keysigning Party and Web of Trust ) . Care should be taken that only the keys are authenticated whose authenticity can be confirmed (e.g. people you know or trust).

The network connections between the friends are direct and end-to-end encrypted .

File transfer

Friends of friends cannot connect directly to each other. However, it is possible to access their shares and information anonymously and encrypted, provided this has been activated by the user. Searching, accessing, uploading and downloading these files or other information are carried out via " routing " via the friends. This means that the source of the data (the uploader) and the destination of the data (the downloader) do not communicate directly, but only indirectly through mutual friends. Anonymous tunnels are currently established with a maximum of eight nodes . This means that information and files can be exchanged across the network without being directly connected to all participants. Since all data and communications in the OpenSSL network are transmitted encrypted from the sender to the recipient, nobody (not even any of the participants who forward the communication packets or files) can monitor, control or censor the exchange. Friends with whom you are directly connected and through whom the data is routed cannot understand whether you are requesting a file yourself (downloading) or forwarding it to other friends (uploading). As a result, it cannot be established which participant is the true original sender or recipient of a file or message. Each RetroShare user can choose whether anonymous data traffic from file sharing , contributions from internal forums and channels, and overview information from friends can be routed via their own IP address . This function can be individually and individually adapted for each directly connected friend and changed at any time.

File sharing

The shares of all files can be managed in a similar way to e. B. at eMule . Each RetroShare user can choose to share individual files, directories, or entire hard drives .

It can be selected whether all connected friends or only certain friends are allowed to access certain files directly. This means that other files, directories or hard disk drives can be made available for each friend. There is also the option of making all shared files available anonymously to the entire network (friends of friends, etc.) or only directly connected friends, if necessary both . In order to protect anonymity, the files can then only be accessed via the internal search or via a published hyperlink e.g. B. found in internal or external forums. Direct access to the shares is then no longer possible. Due to the routing function in RetroShare, this option cannot be used to clearly identify which user is the real sender (uploader) or recipient (downloader) of a file or information.

When selecting direct access to files or directories, the friends can browse the shares using the tree view or list view. The shared files can be displayed sorted by age, size and name. With this option, the directly connected friends can see which files are shared by the friend.

All data release functions can be individually adapted and changed at any time if necessary.

communication

RetroShare includes an email client , instant messaging , broadcasting , forums , newsgroups , chat lobbies , remote chat, VoIP , video conferencing, and web crawling . All communication options are encrypted and work without the use of a server or other intermediate services.

The e-mail client allows you to send offline messages to friends. It has folders for incoming, outgoing and sent messages as well as drafts and a trash can to restore deleted messages. Messages can be sorted and managed according to their importance. Predefined keywords are available for this, which can be expanded with your own, individually created words. Further options of the e-mail client are: reply to incoming e-mails directly, print e-mails and add file attachments to e-mails. As with most other RetroShare communication options, different fonts and sizes, colors and symbols can be used for this.

With the instant messaging chat it is possible to chat privately with directly connected friends without other connected friends being involved or noticing. For a better overview or recognition, it is possible to create your own avatars for private chat. Per drag and drop can be sent files with the private chat when needed quickly and easily. This works for all communication options in RetroShare.

The broadcasting makes it possible to write all directly connected friends at once. However, friends who are not directly connected to each other can only read or reply to the posts of the directly connected friend.

The internal forums can be reached directly via RetroShare, and are distributed in the RetroShare users' cache and stored in encrypted form. The RetroShare forums are thus independent of external services such as servers . The forums in RetroShare can be managed in a similar way to the external Internet forums. Main topics and subtopics can be created publicly or anonymously. When creating the forum, the creator can choose whether the entire RetroShare network has access to the forum area or only selected friends or groups. The creator also determines whether a comment may be published publicly (with a nickname) or anonymously (without a name) in his forum area. As soon as a forum area is public, the contributions can only be published if the RetroShare user authenticates his comment with his password. Subsequently, his contributions will be published with his RetroShare account nickname . The main and sub-topics in the forums can also be searched for multiple keywords. The popularity of the forums is evaluated based on the number of subscriptions and displayed in a diagram next to each forum. Subscribed forums can be unsubscribed at any time.

The internal RetroShare newsgroups can be created as well as the forums themselves. Compared to the forums, however, the newsgroups can be changed at any time by the creator. The newsgroups can also be shared with selected friends who are directly connected. These friends, like the creator, then have full write and access rights to the created newsgroup. Another option is to determine whether every RetroShare user can see and download the contents of the newsgroup or only selected friends. The contents of the various RetroShare newsgroups can also be downloaded automatically if you have subscribed to them. As soon as the creator (s) provide new information or files in his / her newsgroups, the download of these published files begins. The newsgroups are divided into “own channels”, “subscribed channels”, “popular channels” and other channels. The popularity of the newsgroup is evaluated based on the number of subscriptions and displayed in a diagram next to each public newsgroup. The subscribed newsgroups can be canceled at any time.

The chat lobbies allow the RetroShare user to anonymously chat with other non-connected RetroShare users using the IP addresses of their direct friends and their friends, etc. In order to conceal the identity in the chat lobbies from directly connected friends, there is the option of changing your RetroShare user account nickname in the chat lobbies to another pseudonymous nickname at any time. To avoid spam and trolls , all RetroShare users in the chat lobbies can quickly and easily deactivate incoming messages for each individual nickname that is spam or trolled. It is possible to create your own chat lobbies and determine whether these lobbies can be accessed by the entire RetroShare network or only selected friends.

The remote chat enables the option to use the IP addresses of the friends who are directly connected, to operate private, anonymous and encrypted instant messaging with other non-connected RetroShare participants. To do this, the creator of the remote chat selects his remote communication partner, secures the remote chat with the RetroShare password he has created and publishes the remote chat via a URL link in one of the various chat lobbies. The desired communication partner can then enter the remote chat from the chat lobbies with his individually created password. All other participants in the chat lobby do not have access to the created remote chat. The creator of the remote chat can determine how long this remote chat is valid in minutes, hours or days.

Encrypted IP telephony with directly connected friends is possible via plug-in , and you can choose whether the transmission is continuous, voice-activated or only manually by pressing a button.

The serverless and encrypted communication platform provides the technical basis to easily implement or remove additional plug-ins . With the “ Web crawling ” plug-in, it is possible to have publicly or anonymously posted hyperlinks , URLs or other information assessed and evaluated by other RetroShare users. With a photography plug-in, images or photo albums can be created and managed like with social networks for directly connected friends.

Group chats with friends or work colleagues are possible, for example to hold joint meetings. If necessary, the directly connected RetroShare friends can be divided into self-named or predefined groups such as B. Sort and manage family, friends or favorites etc. There is also the possibility that defined user groups work together on documents, which are then synchronized directly, with a fast connection and securely via RetroShare.

Skills

  • all connections between the nodes are OpenSSL -encrypted
  • Authentication of the friends list via OpenPGP key (support up to 4096bit)
  • Turtle routing allows secure and anonymous file and information transfer with nodes up to six hops away
  • decentralized chats , newsgroups , e-mail , forums , IP telephony , video conferencing and data transmission without using a server
  • IP localization via DHT is possible
  • Operation of a node as a hidden service with an .onion address
  • Overview of the internal router statistics
  • Free choice of port configuration, UPnP / NAT-PMP - port opening
  • Plug-in support
  • Qt 5 user interface that can be designed and customized in many ways
  • Integration into the operating system taskbar
  • Web interface support to Retroshare about - web browser to use
  • Group management of contacts in z. B.:family, acquaintances, work colleagues etc.
  • Individual and customizable authorization per friend or group
  • Creation of several pseudonymous accounts and nicknames with whose [ID] contributions can be created or rated anonymously
  • Creation of decentralized chat rooms possible; public or private by invitation only
  • Quick start wizard
  • Direct friends can be recommended to other direct friends via internal invitation and can also be accepted in this way
  • Parallel download from multiple sources
  • Swarming (redistributing files before they have been completely loaded)
  • Support for resuming downloads after exiting the program
  • Adding downloads through website links
  • Anonymous shares of folders and files can be found via Turtle Routing in the network and used as a source
  • Data sharing of searchable folders for friends with an authorization concept
  • Collections of files can be created much like torrent files

Related projects

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Releases