I'm fairly certain this post might end up revealing my lack of knowledge on this topic rather than being a sound technical question, but here goes:
Why are most people keen on VPN services when TOR was present all along? Is it just because TOR is "slower" than VPNs or some other reason related to access?
Here are the points that confuse me:
- Many services block TOR.
True, but that's the case with VPNs too. Netflix, Spotify, or some government website (won't specify which country) will give you a tough time when they detect VPN use.
- Your ISP will know you used TOR.
Sure, but they also know that you used a VPN. Not sure why so many people use this argument. Besides, if you use TOR bridges, your ISP won't know it.
- VPNs are super helpful when trying to circumvent CG-NAT.
And you'd be right there. Accessing clearnet to serve or host a service is much easier with a VPN. But then again, most people aren't trying to circumvent their CG-NAT to host service. They're trying to use the web more generally.
This post was inspired by my utter disillusionment of Mullvad.
Ah yes, we love some good ol'-fashioned FUD!
The propaganda around things like Tor is simply astounding. Like, it isn't a "dark web" full of h4x0r5, pirates, and black-markets. Some folks just enjoy cat pictures :3
"darknet" is a really old term (pre-www) for "the parts of the internet that don't respond to normal queries". things like internal company services, academic databases, p2p networking, vpns or other overlay networks. "dark web" is just the www version, commonly defined as "the part of the web that can't be indexed by search engines". got a homelab? that's a darknet.
Ohhh like the opposite of clearnet!
Interesting. I'll try to remember this.