arno/privatebin
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Releases Wiki Activity

More questions

rugk 2016-08-24 18:23:15 +02:00
parent 81961687a3
commit 5a0c892f0e
1 changed files with 43 additions and 6 deletions
Show Stats Download Patch File Download Diff File Expand all files Collapse all files

49
FAQ.md

@ -1,16 +1,51 @@
Please have a look at these questions *before* opening an issue in this repo.
## Why have you changed your name?
## General
### Why have you changed your name?
PrivateBin started as a fork of [ZeroBin](https://github.com/sebsauvage/ZeroBin). As PrivateBin got developed independently of ZeroBin and many new features were added, the design was improved and many security vulnerabilities were fixed, so we thought it was time for a change, which displays the development efforts, which were used to improve PrivateBin.
## Why is it named "PrivateBin"?
### Why is it named "PrivateBin"?
We have [asked the ZeroBin community](https://github.com/elrido/ZeroBin/issues/79) and chose the most popular name.
We have [asked the ZeroBin community](https://github.com/elrido/ZeroBin/issues/79) and chose [the most popular name](https://github.com/elrido/ZeroBin/issues/79#issuecomment-242116386).
![resultspollzerobinnewname](https://cloud.githubusercontent.com/assets/11966684/17937861/e2488d0e-6a23-11e6-8009-2770d9eee8ab.png)
### If I use PrivateBin and post the link in a forum/in social media/... is my content secure?
## Should I switch from ZeroBin to PrivateBin?
As long as you set no password, **everyone who has the link can see the content of a PrivateBin**!
The only way to prevent this is to set a long, secure password when uploading. You can find many tips to create secure password online, one of the most famous ones is shown in [this xkcd comic](https://www.xkcd.com/936/) ([explanation](https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/936:_Password_Strength)).
### The URL is so long. Can't I just use a URL shortener?
Of course you can, nobody can prohibit you from doing so. However we generally **do not recommend it**. As said in the previous question everybody who has the URL can view the PrivateBin. This includes URL shorteners, so when you submit
If you really want to use an URL shortener we recommend you to use a self-hosted one. If this is not possible, you may check if the URL shortener:
* offers HTTPS on the page where you enter the PrivateBin URL
* the generated short URL is a HTTPS URL
* does not publish the shortened URLs somewhere
If these requirements are fulfilled, you may want to use it. If you additionally selected to destroy the PrivateBin on the first visit or you encrypted your paste with a strong password (see previous question), you can now be fairly sure, nobody read your messages.
For server admins we actually [provide a way](https://github.com/PrivateBin/PrivateBin/wiki/Configuration#urlshortener) to integrate an URL shortener into PrivateBin. Of course the same arguments apply here as well.
### Why should I use PrivateBin?
#### As a user...
* you can keep secrets such as passwords out of chats and share them with others
* you can choose a trusted provider (maybe a friend or even yourself when self hosting the service)
* you can upload files*
* and select the storage time*
* you can discuss topics with other people
\* Only if the server admin has enabled this feature.
#### As a server admin...
* you are protected against legal orders forcing you to scan the content you receive from your users (which is not possible
* you provide a service for [those who need it](https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2015/06/why_we_encrypt.html)
* you can customize theme and the code of PrivateBin, everything is open-source
### Should I switch from ZeroBin to PrivateBin?
In short: Yes.
@ -18,7 +53,9 @@ The longer answer is: ZeroBin is outdated and not maintained anymore. As you may
You may also look at the release notes of PrivateBin to see what else changed.
## How to fix "There is no suitable CSPRNG installed on your system"?
## Technical
### How to fix "There is no suitable CSPRNG installed on your system"?
This error means you do not have a secure cryptographic random number generator installed on your system. This is however required by PrivateBin for security reasons.
Have a look at the [requirements list](https://github.com/PrivateBin/PrivateBin/wiki/Installation#requirements) to see what you are missing.