3.2rc3 sys-whonix settings

[pixel fairy]

in 3.2-rc3 sys-whonix is started at boot, and has backups enabled. neither are needed. 

starting a connection to tor might be bad in some places, so its better to make sure the user wants to start that whenever they use it.

[Marek Marczykowski-Górecki]

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During first startup it will ask you whether you want to connect to Tor
directly. If you want, you can also disable autostart of that VM, but in
most cases it will be simply more convenient (faster startup of
Whonix-related VMs). And if you live in censored area, you'll probably
need to setup bridges anyway.

As for backups, you're probably right, but lets wait for Patrick's
confirmation.

- --
Best Regards,
Marek Marczykowski-Górecki
Invisible Things Lab
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
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[pixel fairy]

theres the issue of tor safety, when sometimes your in a bad place, but not always. 

i was also thinking of resource usage while sys-whonix is just sitting there.  but, its 

pretty light so probably doesnt matter much.

[pixel fairy]

now that i think about it, the case of occasionally not wanting to have tor running is not 

often. the main fear is in the user forgetting to disable it. 

[Patrick Schleizer]

pixel fairy:

> in 3.2-rc3 sys-whonix is started at boot, and has backups enabled. neither
> are needed.

Backups are useful to keep your Tor entry guards and perhaps other
custom Tor settings if any.

Cheers,
Patrick

[Patrick Schleizer]

pixel fairy:

> theres the issue of tor safety, when sometimes your in a bad place, but not
> always.

In that case I recommend "always safe config" until/if a better solution
is implemented.

Cheers,
Patrick

[entr0py]

pixel fairy:

> starting a connection to tor might be bad in some places, so its better to make sure the user wants to start that whenever they use it.

Marek:

> If you want, you can also disable autostart of that VM,

Unless it's the Default NetVM and you don't want to assume the risks of having a non-Tor Default NetVM.

@pixel fairy: existing feature request to allow `None` as Default NetVM so Autostart can be disabled:
https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues/2252


Marek:

> most cases it will be simply more convenient (faster startup of
> Whonix-related VMs).

When Whonix-GW is started before upstream proxies are ready, tor bootstrapping can take approx 5 minutes. Whonix-GW finishes bootstrapping immediately on boot when all proxy vm's have already been established. It's faster to shutdown and reboot Whonix-GW than wait for it to bootstrap after an autostart. [certainly whonix not qubes issue]

> And if you live in censored area, you'll probably
> need to setup bridges anyway.

Or other proxies in front of Whonix-GW that take time to initialize properly :)

[is this something a newbie could work on? or am I asking for trouble?]