docs/docs/sign-up.md

Sign Up

How to join the system

Tilde Black's registration is a bit different from what you may have encountered in other public access Unix systems.

Sending a request

Send an email to admin [at] tilde.black user with an SSH public key that you will use for authentication. The newer Ed25519 keys are recommended, but any valid ssh key is acceptable. Some users enjoy using GPG keys for authentication using the --export-ssh-key option.

Receiving your invitation

Once your public key has been received, the administrator will assign 10 random user accounts to your control. You will receive an email response with the list of user accounts you can now log into using your key.

Tilde Black has 10490 user accounts available, generated from 4 and 5 letter word lists. By assigning you 10 random selections from already-created users we hide your user creation date from others on the system and provide you a means of anonymity to other users. You may use any or all of these user accounts. They are all fully-featured.

Logging in

It is recommended that users connect to ssh over tor to hide their IP address from other users on the system. [instructions to follow] Once logged in, each of your 10 user accounts will have an email waiting that includes that account's password. Please change the password when you first log in by using the passwd command. This password is not used for login authentication, but will be necessary for some operations like changing your shell (chsh).

Tilde Black does not run its sshd service on port 22, but rather on port 2222. To connect, use the -p 2222 switch like so:

ssh <username>@tilde.black -p 2222
# or
ssh <username>@black6kfjetfuzaeozz7fs53whh7xtd4e27telrf5fg5kgdt5ah5plad.onion -p 2222

More information about ssh over tor.

The basics

Your users have a ~/public_gopher, ~/public_html, and ~/public_gemini folder available. By creating a root gophermap, index.html, or index.gmi file in their respective folder you will enable your gopher hole, website, or Gemini space for that user. Your user will also appear on the user-lists for gopher, web, or Gemini within the next 12 hours.