[tor-bugs] #5236 [Tor bundles/installation]: Make a deb of the Torbrowser and add to repository

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#5236: Make a deb of the Torbrowser and add to repository
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 Reporter:  cypherpunks               |          Owner:                   
     Type:  enhancement               |         Status:  needs_information
 Priority:  normal                    |      Milestone:                   
Component:  Tor bundles/installation  |        Version:                   
 Keywords:                            |         Parent:                   
   Points:                            |   Actualpoints:                   
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Changes (by micahlee):

 * cc: micahflee@… (added)


Comment:

 Hi, I posted in #3994 about this, but this ticket seems more appropriate.
 I think I've come up with a really simple and working solution, and have
 even made a .deb package as an example. Does anyone see problems with this
 approach?

 Here's my comment in the other ticket:

 I've been following this bug, and think I came up with a workable
 solution. I don't think it could end up in Debian, however, because it
 does include shipping the result of the TorBrowserBundle build.

 But I think it would be great to get this in the deb.torproject.org
 repository, and have Debian people put in the effort if they want it in
 the main repository.

 Basically, we can make a deb package that contains a launcher script and
 the TBB tarball. When you run the launcher script, it checks if the
 current user has ~/.torbrowser/$VERSION. If they don't, it extracts the
 TBB tarball to that folder. Then it runs ~/.torbrowser/$VERSION/start-tor-
 browser.

 Updated versions of the package would just include the new TBB tarball and
 the $VERSION variable would be changed.

 Since this uses the same TBB that others use, it avoids problems with
 browser fingerprinting recognizing Debian users. It also allows you to
 have a changable Firefox profile like people are used to, however it will
 get reset with each upgrade.

 I went ahead and made a proof-of-concept that works great:
 https://github.com/micahflee/torbrowser

 Here's the launcher script:
 https://github.com/micahflee/torbrowser/blob/master/torbrowser-bin

 This package I made also includes a "Tor Browser" application launcher
 that uses the TBB icon to show up in the desktop manager application menu.
 Could this work?

 I posted about this to tor-talk but haven't heard any feedback:
 https://lists.torproject.org/pipermail/tor-talk/2013-January/027090.html

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/5236#comment:14>
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