[tor-bugs] #4280 [Tor Browser]: build changes for TBB

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#4280: build changes for TBB
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 Reporter:  ioerror      |          Owner:  mikeperry
     Type:  defect       |         Status:  new      
 Priority:  normal       |      Milestone:           
Component:  Tor Browser  |        Version:           
 Keywords:               |         Parent:           
   Points:               |   Actualpoints:           
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Comment(by mikeperry):

 Replying to [comment:2 ioerror]:
 > Replying to [comment:1 mikeperry]:
 > > Disabling everything in two places just makes our job harder if we
 want to use that functionality later, or if users insist on testing new
 and exciting configurations for us.
 >
 > I disagree that it makes our job harder. We have experimental builds for
 experiments and we have stable builds for stability, security and
 anonymity.

 It does in fact make it harder. You just haven't been active enough in TBB
 development to see it.

 Just dealing with all the places we have disabled flash was a huge pain.
 It took us 3 or 4 builds to get flash loading again on all platforms. And
 I still can't figure out all the ways we prevent cookies from being
 written to disk so that users who want to store protected cookies can do
 so.

 Every change we make to disable something requires everyone knowing about
 it and all other changes when they want to undo them to add features.

 We also don't currently have experimental TBB builds... Making them always
 behave differently (as opposed to just working on them until we can call
 them stable) is more work and maintenance. It will also introduce fun
 surprises due to differences between "stable" and "experimental" behavior
 when we try to convert out alpha "experimental" series into the new
 "stable".

 > According to the docs, I see no reason to enable those flags. YMMV. I
 think it's worth considering.

 My vote is for only:
 +ac_add_options --enable-install-strip
 +ac_add_options --disable-parental-controls

 This one needs code review to ensure it doesn't break stuff/disable all
 caching:
 +ac_add_options --disable-necko-disk-cache

 These two will probably make my life harder for #4234:
 +ac_add_options --disable-installer
 +ac_add_options --disable-updater

 The others are just bad ideas that will break stuff for no gain, IMO.

 In fact, I'm not even sure any of these are really worth it, unless they
 actually save us significant disk space in the .dmg or tgz.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/4280#comment:3>
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