Well, I finally got off my lazy rear and started working on some new fun for TrueCrypt. I’ve been intending to both install it and get familiar with it for some time. However, with the holidays, work, and finally moving into a permanent apartment, I’ve been a weeeee bit busy to say the least. Now, while the first two are still going on, I’m done with number 3, so I’ve recovered some of my free time. Translation: TrueCrypt is finally installed on my systems and I’ve started playing with it. Interestingly enough, I do kind of like it. It certainly has some serious overlap with cryptsetup, however, as was pointed out to me on a number of occasions, it serves others purposes as well. Admittedly, I’m impresses with some of it. So, what have I been up to?

Most notable of this is Bug 302170. As it was, if a baselayout-2 user didn’t remove their TC mappings before shutting down, the files ystem it resided on (ex. Container in /home) would not be able to unmount. Obviously this was a bit of a headache. So I finally got to working on a baselayout-2 init script for TC. It’s *very very* basic at the moment, and I would very much like to expand what it can do. As of right now, all it does is run the addon to run truecrypt -d. I would eventually like to have something along the lines of what we have with dm-crypt. A config file that can tell the init script to mount other partitions / containers at boot. And perhaps other things. Suggestions are welcome!

For those of you using TrueCrypt – Please get in there and test the new ebuild 7.0a-r2. If you encounter any problems with the new init script (Baselayout-2 users only), please get a bug open or an e-mail to me out asap! Thanks!

I don’t know when I’ll really get to working on the more advanced functionality. Hopefully soon. When i do, the bleeding edge of it will be available in my overlay. Again, anyone who is a bit on the daring edge and wants to help, it is most appreciated. If you’re in that category:

layman -s c1pher
echo "app-crypt/truecrypt" >> /etc/portage/package.unmask
echo "app-crypt/truecrypt **" >> /etc/portage/package.keywords

Do a dance!

I need all the help I can get with some of this, so please, if you have the time and know how, lend the hand =)

What else is going on with TrueCrypt?

I’m in the middle of trying to get “friendly” with upstream so to speak. I’m in the midst of trying to gain both access to their developer code base and their bug tracker. I figure if we want this working nicely in *nix, having a *nix developer upstream will probably be a bit of a hand. It also means I’ll be able to do something with live ebuilds / release candidate ebuilds. Translation: Fewer unknown bugs when we version bump.

Last, but not least, I’m aiming to finally get this into stable. I have *zero* clue if I will succeed with this, but I want to try. Once again, *please* run 7.0a-r2 and file any bugs you have. As of right now, I know of one bug that will prevent stabilization, however, I have been… pushy.. yea pushy =P, with upstream to try to get a fix for this. With some luck, I’ll be able to put it in =)

As always, if you have other ideas / suggestions / complaints feel free to comment or shoot me an e-mail. I’m all ears!