Tor on Linux Mint 8 for anonymous browsing

This is a simple step by step procedure. By following the procedure and you will have TOR running in your Linux Mint 8 system.
add the below line to your /etc/apt/sources.list file by typing "gksudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list" in the terminal window.

deb http://deb.torproject.org/torproject.org karmic main
Then add the gpg key used to sign the packages by running below lines in terminal window:
sudo gpg --keyserver keys.gnupg.net --recv 886DDD89
sudo gpg --export A3C4F0F979CAA22CDBA8F512EE8CBC9E886DDD89 | sudo apt-key add -

Refresh your sources and install TOR by running
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install tor tor-geoipdb

Now TOR is installed and will be running. We will install privoxy by typing:
sudo apt-get install privoxy
Next, we need to open privoxy’s config file:
gksudo gedit /etc/privoxy/config
and insert this line at the beginning of the file: (make sure to include the dot at the end of line)
forward-socks4a / 127.0.0.1:9050 .
Save and restart privoxy:
sudo /etc/init.d/privoxy restart
Using TOR with FireFox

To use TOR inside FireFox we need to change the browser’s proxy server configuration. Fortunately, there is Torbutton plugin that simplifies the task. Install the plugin, restart FireFox and check the bottom right of the browser window:
Click once on the “Tor Disabled” label to activate TOR inside FireFox:
That’s it. Now we need to test whether we’re already anonymous on the net. Open this address:
http://torcheck.xenobite.eu/
https://check.torproject.org/

And if you can see a green message message saying that you are successful

Congratulation! You’re anonymous now (well, it has flaws, but at least you’re better off). Click once on “Tor Enabled” label to deactivate TOR inside FireFox.


A new simple version can be found here which works for not only Linux Mint but all flavors of Linux (hope so)


Please add a comment if this is helpful so that I will encouraged to help you out more.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Thank you very much! It was extremely clear and useful. It would be even simpler if the instruction as to how to install Torbutton would be included.
Anonymous said…
I agree with former post. You had my laptop running Mint 8 up'n'running TOR within minutes. I expected more issues, to be honest :) At the time of this post, I am surfing from a rented building during a holiday, and now feel more secure regarding my traffic. Life-saver !
Anonymous said…
Thank you for posting this - no issues following your instructions!
Anonymous said…
I love this advice! My problem is that unfortunately, I cannot change my sources.lst file as mentioned in the very first step.

I am not 'allowed' on my computer to change it at all. I guess it has to do with permissions, but I am the only administrator on my computer.

Any advice? Please help!

Thanks!
Anil said…
You have to open the terminal/console window and type "sudo gedit " will you open the file in root mode so that you can edit and do the changes.
Anonymous said…
keyserver timed out repeatedly

any suggestions

thank you
Anil said…
I am not able to help you very much deep into this. You have to Google the result. If I come across anything I will post it.