[dialog] 40tude dialog official (canonical) site & sha256 hash

[nick brookstone]

I had to use the wayback machine because I couldn't find the official
download location for the 40tude dialog executable installer.
https://web.archive.org/web/20180902122005/http://dialog.datalist.org/downloads/download.html

That's at the very bottom of the 1st page results using this search engine.
https://duckduckgo.com/&q=download+40tude+dialog

2.0.15.1
https://web.archive.org/web/20180902122005/http://dialog.datalist.org/downloads/4d2b38.exe
2,0.15.41
https://web.archive.org/web/20180902122005/http://dialog.datalist.org/downloads/dialog.41.zip
2.0.15.84
https://web.archive.org/web/20180902122005/http://dialog.datalist.org/downloads/dialog.84.zip

Given people will use the top results of any given search page, my question
is whether ANY of these download sites have the official software or not?
https://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=696
https://download.cnet.com/40tude-Dialog/3000-2164_4-10771271.html
https://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/News-Newsgroups-Blog-Tools/40tude-Dialog.shtml
https://en.freedownloadmanager.org/Windows-PC/40tude-Dialog-FREE.html
http://www.downv.com/download-40tude-Dialog-31712.htm
https://freewareapp.com/40tude-dialog-2.0.15.1-beta_download/
https://www.punto-informatico.it/download/40tude-dialog/
https://40tude-dialog.softonic.com/

How would we know the software isn't modified from Marcus' original binary?
If there isn't an official site, is there at least an official sha256 hash?

[Bernd Rose]

On Mon, 8th Nov 2021 07:47:07 +0300, nick brookstone wrote:

> I had to use the wayback machine because I couldn't find the official
> download location for the 40tude dialog executable installer.

40tude Dialog has been abandoned by its author for more than 15 years
out of a couple of personal reasons.

> How would we know the software isn't modified from Marcus' original binary?
> If there isn't an official site, is there at least an official sha256 hash?

Look inside the German FAQ for downloads and checksums:

https://www.barghahn-online.de/4td_faq/download.php

The files listed there have been downloaded from the official source,
while it was still up. If you want to read the content of the FAQ, as
well, (lots of interesting information, I daresay) and don't speak
German, try to access the site through Google translate or a similar
service:

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.barghahn-online.de/4td_faq/download.php

It garbles some of the formatting. But the gist of the content should
still be clear...

HTH.
Bernd

[nick brookstone]

Bernd Rose wrote:

> Look inside the German FAQ for downloads and checksums:
>
> https://www.barghahn-online.de/4td_faq/download.php

Thank you.
Google had told me Windows 10 has a native "certil.exe" program.
https://adamtheautomator.com/checksum-windows/

That's why I had already run this command before I had asked.
certutil.exe -hashfile dialog.exe sha256

That command resulted in the following installed SHA256 values.
c:\Windows\System32\certutil.exe -hashfile dialog_2.0.15.1.exe SHA256
SHA256 hash of dialog_2.0.15.1.exe:
8a0c014176ef1d4b9703c684d4ff6b5f06909c8ae1982b2bddf675846c21901f

c:\Windows\System32\certutil.exe -hashfile dialog_2.0.15.41.exe SHA256
SHA256 hash of dialog_2.0.15.41.exe:
9abad130060ecd8cdd74f142aee3bc7522b78dc226daa1e5fa63040e0244e0c3

c:\Windows\System32\certutil.exe -hashfile dialog_2.0.15.84.exe SHA256
SHA256 hash of dialog_2.0.15.84.exe:
c0fe5a615d084ab985d28f6a250aa4920163592fd1167ef0a4abade8ffe92075

But the FAQ only uses SHA1 apparently (and not SHA256) so it's this.

Checksums for 4d2b38.exe (installation package - version 2.0.15.1):
CRC32: 553801BE
MD5: EEA07F9F5FBFC425F70CD05A48929D2C
SHA1: BE3D3BCCA5777458BABB992A6809BA88D7621B6B

Checksums for Dialog.exe (unpacked single program file - version
2.0.15.41):
CRC32: C0CE3E5C
MD5: 40FB45E107C2341C824A6EF1842A4834
SHA1: AB004819505E9AB0E507FCA410B10966DF142BBF

Checksums for Dialog.exe (unzipped single program file - version
2.0.15.84):

CRC32: FED0A595
MD5: CB9A15EFD1EF6A701466C72BD386B183
SHA1: FC1905051C0C6A522A7F2F20FEA12A5CC576854F

Rerunning these hash checks on my installed dialog files gets me this.
c:\Windows\System32\certutil.exe -hashfile dialog_2.0.15.1.exe md5
MD5 hash of dialog_2.0.15.1.exe:
4f95e43cd324209972e095f6567945fd

c:\Windows\System32\certutil.exe -hashfile dialog_2.0.15.1.exe sha1
SHA1 hash of dialog_2.0.15.1.exe:
f5efed373c40ea60a0135d175becadfe08e7f980

c:\Windows\System32\certutil.exe -hashfile dialog_2.0.15.41.exe md5
MD5 hash of dialog_2.0.15.41.exe:
40fb45e107c2341c824a6ef1842a4834

c:\Windows\System32\certutil.exe -hashfile dialog_2.0.15.41.exe sha1
SHA1 hash of dialog_2.0.15.41.exe:
ab004819505e9ab0e507fca410b10966df142bbf

c:\Windows\System32\certutil.exe -hashfile dialog_2.0.15.84.exe md5
MD5 hash of dialog_2.0.15.84.exe:
cb9a15efd1ef6a701466c72bd386b183

c:\Windows\System32\certutil.exe -hashfile dialog_2.0.15.84.exe sha1
SHA1 hash of dialog_2.0.15.84.exe:
fc1905051c0c6a522a7f2f20fea12a5cc576854f

I had already deleted the downloaded original installer.
Downloaded it again from here to test it out also.
https://web.archive.org/web/20180902122005/http://dialog.datalist.org/downloads/4d2b38.exe

c:\Windows\System32\certutil.exe -hashfile 4d2b38.exe md5
MD5 hash of 4d2b38.exe:
eea07f9f5fbfc425f70cd05a48929d2c

c:\Windows\System32\certutil.exe -hashfile 4d2b38.exe sha1
SHA1 hash of 4d2b38.exe:
be3d3bcca5777458babb992a6809ba88d7621b6b

Looks good! Thanks.

[Bernd Rose]

On Mon, 8th Nov 2021 10:27:56 +0300, nick brookstone wrote:

[SHA256 checksums of the extracted executables]

> SHA256 hash of dialog_2.0.15.1.exe:
> 8a0c014176ef1d4b9703c684d4ff6b5f06909c8ae1982b2bddf675846c21901f

> SHA256 hash of dialog_2.0.15.41.exe:
> 9abad130060ecd8cdd74f142aee3bc7522b78dc226daa1e5fa63040e0244e0c3

> SHA256 hash of dialog_2.0.15.84.exe:
> c0fe5a615d084ab985d28f6a250aa4920163592fd1167ef0a4abade8ffe92075

All checksums are ok.

Please note, that using the alpha-state .84 is not recommended. It was
leaked by a tester and contains several internal changes that /may/
lead to problems. (This "alpha" is more stable than many final releases
of other programs.) The changes provide no real benefit compared to the
last officially released .41 patch version for everyday use. The changes
were just a preparation for a major rewrite, that never happened.

Bernd

[nick brookstone]

Bernd Rose wrote:

> All checksums are ok.

Thank you for checking dialog exe checksums against the known good ones.

I feel sorry for anyone trying to find the official dialog installer as
it's not easy to find in a typical google first page search.

Even I had not found thaat official German language FAQ that you had found
when I searched for it to set up a new computer for someone I care about.

> Please note, that using the alpha-state .84 is not recommended.

In my short testing I only saw one 'bug' which was that .84 gave an error
when I added a newsserver and new groups because servers.old already
existed.

Nonetheless I don't want her to have trouble when I'm gone so I switched
her to the .41 dialog executable based on your recommendation above.

I also had to set up stunnel to get the no registration mixmin to work.
Searching found this stunnel.conf file on the net somewhere.
It worked the first time so I didn't modify it from the original.

; 40Tude Dialog Server:Port = 127.0.0.1:1563 (SSL box was left unchecked)
; 40Tude Dialog Username/Password = both are left at the empty default
; 40Tude Dialog allwd conn = left at the default of 2
; 40Tude Dialog use pipelining = left at the default of checked
[nntp_mixmin]
client = yes
accept = 127.0.0.1:1563
connect = news.mixmin.net:563
verifyChain = yes
CAfile = ca-certs.pem
checkHost = news.mixmin.net
OCSPaia = yes

I'm not sure how much of that stunnel.conf is required but it's working.

[Bernd Rose]

On Mon, 8th Nov 2021 20:24:24 +0300, nick brookstone wrote:

> I feel sorry for anyone trying to find the official dialog installer as
> it's not easy to find in a typical google first page search.

This is bound to happen, when a program has been abandoned for more than
15 years.

> Even I had not found thaat official German language FAQ that you had found

"Found" is not the correct term. Having done the last major rewrite of
that FAQ, I should know, where to look for it. ;-) (Even if I don't
host it, myself.) It is /not/ an "official" FAQ, but the collaborative
result of 40tude Dialog users.

> I also had to set up stunnel to get the no registration mixmin to work.
> Searching found this stunnel.conf file on the net somewhere.
> It worked the first time so I didn't modify it from the original.
>
> ; 40Tude Dialog Server:Port = 127.0.0.1:1563 (SSL box was left unchecked)
> ; 40Tude Dialog Username/Password = both are left at the empty default
> ; 40Tude Dialog allwd conn = left at the default of 2
> ; 40Tude Dialog use pipelining = left at the default of checked
> [nntp_mixmin]
> client = yes
> accept = 127.0.0.1:1563
> connect = news.mixmin.net:563
> verifyChain = yes
> CAfile = ca-certs.pem
> checkHost = news.mixmin.net
> OCSPaia = yes
>
> I'm not sure how much of that stunnel.conf is required but it's working.

The sTunnel settings look fine. The comments describing the settings for
40tude Dialog shouldn't be taken as a standard example, though, because
most Usenet servers require authentication.

Setup of sTunnel is also explained in the FAQ. When you have some time at
hands, it may be a good idea to skim through the (auto-translated) version.
This way, you may get some hints for configuration, script usage, and so on.

Bernd