[tor-bugs] #9966 [Tor bundles/installation]: Work with Debian or another FOSS vendor to provide non-x86 TBB packages (was: Include PowerPC Tor Browser)

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#9966: Work with Debian or another FOSS vendor to provide non-x86 TBB packages
------------------------------------------+-------------------------
     Reporter:  cypherpunks               |      Owner:  cypherpunks
         Type:  project                   |     Status:  assigned
     Priority:  normal                    |  Milestone:
    Component:  Tor bundles/installation  |    Version:
   Resolution:                            |   Keywords:
Actual Points:                            |  Parent ID:
       Points:                            |
------------------------------------------+-------------------------
Changes (by mikeperry):

 * owner:  erinn => cypherpunks
 * priority:  critical => normal
 * status:  reopened => assigned
 * type:  defect => project


Comment:

 You speak as if the only cost to supporting the Mac PowerPC platform is
 purchasing an old build machine building on it. That is not even close to
 the case. If it were, a volunteer would have done it already.

 You seem to be grossly misinformed as to the nature and costs of software
 development work, especially on a platform that is unsupported by both the
 OS vendor (Apple) and the upstream software provider that we rely on
 (Mozilla).

 Even still, we are not going to argue cost/benefits of this with you. It
 is a waste of time, given the situation with Apple and MacOS for Power PC.

 Tor makes security software. We will not provide security software to
 users running an operating system that is not providing security updates
 to their users. Full stop. This is an issue you should take up with Apple,
 or with an alternate OS vendor for the Power PC platform.

 For example, the Debian Project is willing to provide a PowerPC OS
 distribution with security updates based on Linux. I suggest you contact
 the Debian Project about providing Power PC Tor Browser builds, and ask
 them how you can help.

 Such an effort could also be used by ARM and other non-x86 architectures
 that are far more popular and prevalent than PowerPC (you'll note that we
 also do not provide ARM, MIPS or Sparc packages ourselves, either).

 This will all happen faster if you help, and I look forward to seeing your
 patches to help make this all work! Good luck!

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/9966#comment:6>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
The Tor Project: anonymity online