[[!meta title="Tails report for May, 2014"]]

Releases
========

Late May we decided to [postpone the release of Tails
1.1](https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2014-May/005901.html), based
on Debian Wheezy, to the next release cycle. And instead have Tails 1.0.1
released on June 10.

Tails 1.1~beta1, the first beta version of Tails based on Debian Wheezy, was released
on May 30.

Metrics
=======

- Tails has been started more than 344 328 times this month.
  This make 11 107 boots a day in average.
- 31 698 downloads of the OpenPGP signature of Tails ISO.
- 64 bug reports were received through WhisperBack.

FAQ
===

- The development of TrueCrypt [was
  discontinued](http://truecrypt.sourceforge.net/) but our position regarding
  TrueCrypt has remained the same for years: Tails includes TrueCrypt only for
  backward compatibility and we are working on [[choosing a free software as
  replacement|blueprint/replace_truecrypt]] to open TrueCrypt volumes. We hope
  that this recent announcement encourages users to migrate to other
  encrypted storage formats such as [[LUKS|support/faq#luks]], and
  developers to better [[!tails_ticket 6337 desc="support the TrueCrypt
  on-disk format"]]  in Free Software tools.

Code
====

Still, a lot of work has been done to prepare Tails 1.1:

  - The Windows Camouflage has been upgraded to Windows 8 ([[!tails_ticket
    6342]]). It mostly works but some visual improvements would make it nicer
    ([[!tails_ticket 7377]]).
  - Fixed the build of VirtualBox guest modules ([[!tails_ticket 5972]]).
  - Fixed the starting of ORCA screen reader ([[!tails_ticket 7251]]).
  - Fixed the keymap selection from Tails Greeter ([[!tails_ticket 7065]]).
  - Set the background of Tails Greeter to our usual blue color ([[!tails_ticket
    7126]]).
  - Fixed OpenPGP signature verification in Nautilus ([[!tails_ticket 6608]]).
    That implied installing a backport of shared-mime-info 1.2+ ([[!tails_ticket
    7058]]).
  - Worked on [[!tails_gitweb_branch
    feature/7154-install-liferea-above-1.10.3 desc="upgrading liferea"]]
    ([[!tails_ticket 7154]]) and [[!tails_gitweb_branch
    feature/5711-liferea-persistence-preset desc="adding a persistence
    feature"]] ([[!tails_ticket 5711]]), but we discovered that Liferea > 1.10.3
    includes a general-purpose web browser with JavaScript, and we don't want
    that. We are now considering to wait for Icedove, which also has a feed
    reader, before we add a persistent feeds feature.
  - Fixed the display of non-Latin script in Florence ([[!tails_ticket 7279]]).
  - Used a solid blue background color to workaround a display bug in GNOME
    Fallback ([[!tails_ticket 7248]]).
  - Adapted the test suite to Wheezy [[!tails_gitweb_branch test/6559-adapt-test-suite-for-Wheezy desc="was completed"]]
    ([[!tails_ticket 6559]]).
  - Used the regular GnuPG agent instead of the one from GNOME Keyring
    ([[!tails_ticket 7330]]).
  - Fixed emergency shutdown before login ([[!tails_ticket 7333]]).
  - Prevented `iproute2` from being installed from wheezy-backports
    ([[!tails_ticket 7337]]).
  - Purged `dselect` ([[!tails_ticket 7336]]).
  - Worked on fixing the migration of NetworkManager persistence settings
    ([[!tails_ticket 7338]]).
  - Tails devices are now converted to UEFI on full upgrade ([[!tails_ticket
    6577]]).
  - Imported I2P 0.9.13 packages for Wheezy ([[!tails_ticket 6731]]).

Apart from all the work directly related to the migration to Wheezy, we also:

  - Backported python-stem ([[!tails_ticket 7318]]).
  - Installed Linux 3.14 ([[!tails_ticket 7150]]).
  - Decreased the memory requirements while checking for upgrades
    ([[!tails_ticket 7235]]).
  - Disabled the update check mechanism of Torbutton ([[!tails_ticket 7097]]).
  - Installed Tor 0.2.4.22 ([[!tails_ticket 7342]]).
  - Included GtkHash to allow checksum computation from Nautilus
    ([[!tails_ticket 6763]]).
  - [[!tails_gitweb_branch desc="Updated" feature/tor-launcher-0.2.5.4]] Tor
    launcher to 0.2.5.4.
  - Worked on using static UID for `tails-persistence-setup` ([[!tails_ticket
    7343]]).
  - Started evaluating [[!debpkg xserver-xorg-video-modesetting]], for
    [[!tails_ticket 7394 desc="KMS support"]] with the Cirrus (used
    e.g. in QEMU), MGA, and maybe other video adapters.

Documentation and website
=========================

  - Many parts of our documentation were adapted to Tails Wheezy
    [[!tails_gitweb_branch doc/wheezy]].
  - Parts of our download page were reworked and simplified ([[!tails_ticket
    7163]]).
  - Removed the "Why do you need anonymity?" page, which was outside of the scope
    of our documentation.
  - Explain that NoScript is disabled by default ([[!tails_gitweb_commit
    8d79797]]).
  - Put it more clearly that most bug reports without an email address are
    useless ([[!tails_gitweb_commit 5439823]]).
  - Documented that OTR is not activated by default ([[!tails_ticket 7355]]).

Infrastructure
==============

- As our mirror pool grew, we finally hit a [[!tor_bug 11741 desc="bug in the Tor
  DNS resolver"]] that
  prevents us from adding more than about 25 servers in our DNS pool. Thanks to
  foob we put up a [[blueprint|blueprint/HTTP_mirror_pool]] to fix that issue on
  the long-run. See [[!tails_ticket 7161]] and [Some research about mirror
  infrastructure](https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2014-May/005748.html).

- Contributors were encouraged to migrate their custom build systems to Wheezy
  ([[!tails_gitweb_commit 65967ea]]), as was done for our Jenkins
  autobuilder already, and to [[!tails_ticket 7218 desc="update our
  Vagrant basebox to Wheezy"]].

On-going discussions
====================

- [Create a donation form to receive fiat currencies](https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2014-May/005633.html)

- [Sharing wiperam package between Freepto and Tails?](https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2014-May/005787.html)

- [Reworking the I2P documentation](https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2014-May/005808.html)

- [Signing of the ISO and key material](https://mailman.boum.org/pipermail/tails-dev/2014-May/005931.html)

Funding
=======

- Special thanks to all the people who donated
  [[bitcoins|donate]]. We received more than [60 bitcoins in
  May](https://blockchain.info/address/1BvBMSEYstWetqTFn5Au4m4GFg7xJaNVN2)!

- Received a grant from Debian to fund our yearly summit.

- Received a grant from Mozilla to pay some travel expenses for our yearly
  summit.

- Received a first batch of money from the FPF crowd-funding campaign.

- Added a donate button in our sidebar, and point it to the FPF crowd-funding
  campaign [[!tails_gitweb_branch doc/donate]] which is still running.

- Finally signed a contract for the OpenITP grant that we were awarded at the
  end of 2013.

- We are still in the process of getting the contract signed for the Access
  Innovation Prize.

- Were contacted for partnership by the [User Verifiable Social Telematics R&D
  Project](http://www.openmediacluster.com/en/user-verifiable-social-telematics-project/).

Outreach
========

- Passed a [[call for help on
  sysadmin|news/Call_for_help:_improve_the_infrastructure_behind_Tails]].

- Organized a first [[usability testing session in
  Paris|news/usability_testing_2014_05/]].

- Organized a [Tails 1.0 Launch
  Party](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz1rAHzo9eM) in Washington DC.

- Organizing the upcoming [[Tails
  HackFest|blueprint/HackFest_2014_Paris]] and yearly summit: agenda,
  accommodation, traveling sponsorship, venue, food, etc.

Press and testimonials
======================

In late April and early May, many press articles covered the Tails 1.0 release,
including:

  - [Tails 1.0 – La distrib sécurisée sort enfin en version
    stable](http://korben.info/tails-1-0.html) (in French).
  - [Anonymisierungs-OS Tails wird
    erwachsen](http://www.heise.de/security/meldung/Anonymisierungs-OS-Tails-wird-erwachsen-2180167.html)
    in heise Security (in German).
  - [Secure OS Tails Emerges From
    Beta](http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2457452,00.asp) by
    David Murphy in PCMAG.
  - [Edward Snowden's OS of choice, the Linux-based Tails,
    is now out of
    beta](http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/01/tails-linux-os-version1-0/)
    by Steve Dent in Engadget.
  - [Tails 1.0: Sicherheit und
    Anonymität](http://www.pro-linux.de/news/1/21038/tails-10-sicherheit-und-anonymitaet.html)
    by Ferdinand Thommes in PRO-LINUX.DE (in German).
  - [Tails, l'OS dédié à la confidentialité, passe en
    version
    1.0](http://www.numerama.com/magazine/29251-tails-l-os-dedie-a-la-confidentialite-passe-en-version-10.html)
    by Julien L. in Numerama (in French).
  - [Anonymous Linux Distribution TAILS Reaches Release Version
    1.0](http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/tails-anonymous-linux-distribution-reaches-release-version-1-0-144823?ModPagespeed=noscript)
    by Max Smolaks in TechWeek Europe.
  - [Snowden's Beloved Tails OS Reaches v1.0
    Milestone](http://www.linuxinsider.com/story/Snowdens-Beloved-Tails-OS-Reaches-v10-Milestone-80386.html)
    by Richard Adhikari in LinuxInsider.
