[tor-bugs] #3838 [TorBrowserButton]: Inform Torbutton users about TBB

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#3838: Inform Torbutton users about TBB
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    Reporter:  mikeperry         |       Owner:  mikeperry                    
        Type:  enhancement       |      Status:  reopened                     
    Priority:  normal            |   Milestone:  TorBrowserBundle 2.3.x-stable
   Component:  TorBrowserButton  |     Version:                               
  Resolution:                    |    Keywords:  MikePerry201205              
      Parent:                    |      Points:  1                            
Actualpoints:  1                 |  
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Changes (by proper):

  * status:  closed => reopened
  * resolution:  fixed =>


Comment:

 Replying to [comment:10 mikeperry]:
 > Replying to [comment:9 proper]:
 > > Replying to [comment:8 mikeperry]:
 > > > I suppose there could be people who installed it, never toggled it,
 and have been assuming they've been using tor the entire time? That's
 probably worse.
 > >
 > > Yep, this is the group I meant.
 >
 > Further thought reveals there is another group: People who have had
 Torbutton installed by someone they know who sometimes uses their
 computer. These people may be temporarily confused, until they talk to
 their "expert".

 Good point. One of my new suggestions will totally break Firefox and make
 them needing their "expert".

 > > And they perhaps used another browser or another browser profile for
 their non-Tor use. That advice is widespread.
 >
 > Yeah, those diehards is who this is primarily targeting, I think. I
 still think they're Doing It Wrong, but that doesn't mean we can't at
 least make a half-assed attempt to keep them from shooting their feet off.

 Agreed.

 > I guess the question is: Is it worse to force the unsuspecting into
 using Tor, or is it better to protect the ignorant and the stubborn? I
 think everyone should be using Tor, so for me, that choice is easy ;)

 Forcing into Tor is bad for some reasons, if you login into (many) banking
 services using Tor, your account gets suspended. Paypal does that. That
 were the worst publicity for Tor. Also exit sniffing... If you use Tor,
 you must know what you are doing.

 > Otherwise I think the "notify upon button click" is better than random
 unidentified popup telling people to install random software. No one
 should listen to something like that anyways.

 Also agreed with that one. Random popups are bad.

 > If there is another option, please reopen.

 I indeed thought about this one... New suggestions... Might be combined,
 can be used alone.

 1. You know the noscript update page, which is sometimes shown, when
 noscript was (auto)updated? That's not a popup and doesn't look malicious.
 Many addons do it like that. You could do the same with Tor Button.
 Redirect them to a site on tpo.org, make a really big red warning and
 explain the situation.

 2. You make a random unidentified popup and ask users to click on Tor
 Button, since there is an important news. The popup shows once updated and
 on each browser restart. Also with the ability to show the popup only
 once.

 3. Let's face it. You are abandoning/discontinuing a software project.
 (Tor Button with toogle for Firefox gets taken off in favor of Tor
 Browser, due to technical reasons and/or lack of manpower.) It's
 impossible to make everyone happy, when doing something like that.

 Prevent the Tor Button/Firefox users from connecting to any website. Tor
 or non-Tor. No more internet connections. All they see is an explanation
 and they have to uninstall Tor Button. The only thing, you should allow is
 connecting to tpo.org, to allow downloading the net Tor Browser Bundle
 over Tor (in case they are in a censored environment).

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/3838#comment:12>
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