===[ Tunneling Pidgin ]===

I know you hate your lame work proxies. I'm aware that you dislike the ridiculous attempts to restrict you on the net. 
It is both insulting to a person of your intelligence, and a complete waste of time for THEM to even try.

This stupid file should help someone get around restrictions such as proxies, firewalls, and the like, assuming they
allow some sort of outbound communication.
	
This crap should work for both Windows and Unix variants.

--[ Requirements
	* SSH
	* Pidgin (duh)
	* A remote SSH server (freeshell, set one up at your house, etc.)
	
--[ Nice to have
	* Tunnel manager, like gSTM
	* Pidgin OTR (a nice plugin for after your conversation leaves your SSH tunnel)
	
--[ Basics
	You're going to create a "tunnel" where your chat client leaves your machine and connects to a remote SSH server.
	All of your chat/Pidgin communication will be encrypted when it leaves your machine.
	
--[ Get 'er done
	1. Install SSH and Pidgin, if they are not already there. Windows users should check out sshwindows.sourceforge.net.
	2. Fire up a new terminal window (or command prompt). Enter in:

		ssh -D 8888 your_user_here@some_ssh_server
		
	Linux doods might have to 'sudo ssh -D...'
	
	3. You should get  a password challenge. Supply the right password, duh.
	4. Set up your Pidgin... 
	5. When you add an account, be sure that you go to the ADVANCED tab. (If you already have accounts, but need to
	tunnel them via proxy, RIGHT CLICK on the Pidgin tray icon and choose Accounts.The account dialog will display, and you should
	Modify them to add the proxy.)
	6. Under Proxy Options, select the PROXY TYPE, which is SOCKS5.
	7. Enter in there: LOCALHOST for the Host, and 8888 for the Port.
	8. Try to connect, and if you have done it right, you'll be chatting away.
	
	You will obviously have to enter the SSH command each time you're going to tunnel it.
	
--[ Improvements
	1. Install a nice SSH tunnel manager. gSTM works fine in Gnome.
	
		sudo apt-get install gstm
		
	Configuring this is simple - just add a new ssh tunnel, select "DYNAMIC" as the port, and enter in 8888. Click start, and it'll prompt.
	2. Install pidgin-otr, which keeps things legit after the ssh exit
		
		sudo apt-get install pidgin-otr
		
	Make sure you enable it in the Pidgin plugins. Talk your friends into using it. DON'T store your logs, and use a truecrypt volume 
	or similar to store your uber secret stuff.
	
	That's all for now. Let me know if you have any questions.
	
	lordm#cudge.org