[tor-bugs] #2128 [Tor bundles/installation]: TBB users can't enable flash even if they choose to

Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki torproject-admin at torproject.org
Thu Oct 28 06:00:54 UTC 2010


#2128: TBB users can't enable flash even if they choose to
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 Reporter:  arma                      |       Owner:  erinn
     Type:  defect                    |      Status:  new  
 Priority:  normal                    |   Milestone:       
Component:  Tor bundles/installation  |     Version:       
 Keywords:                            |      Parent:       
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 Some Tor users are in situations where they install Tor in order to reach
 youtube -- e.g. users in Turkey.

 But Torbutton blocks plugins by default, so youtube is broken.

 We point people at the Torbutton faq entry:
 https://www.torproject.org/torbutton/torbutton-faq.html.en#noflash
 which walks them through how to tell Torbutton to allow flash.

 But in the Tor Browser Bundles, there is no flash, so the faq entry
 doesn't help them.

 One option is to ship flash in the TBBs, in case they want it. But apart
 from the "bloat most users don't need" factor, I believe the flash license
 doesn't allow it.

 Another option is to configure the Firefox in TBB to allow it to find
 other plugins in the system. Then we rely on Torbutton to prevent you from
 running them unless you choose to. That's bad news for security, since it
 puts more pressure on Torbutton to be perfect, and since it would allow
 the realplayer, adobe, etc etc plugins that the user has in their other
 Firefox install. It also isn't a perfect solution, since some users might
 not *have* another Firefox install.

 Did I miss any options? Is there a way to let them download flash for
 their TBB Firefox? We hear reports of users who repeatedly try to install
 flash (because their firefox keeps saying it's not installed). Does
 installing flash plus following our torbutton faq work? If not, maybe
 making that workflow work is the best option.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/2128>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
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