[tor-bugs] #11429 [meek]: meek-http-helper opens up a second dock icon

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#11429: meek-http-helper opens up a second dock icon
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     Reporter:  dcf     |      Owner:  dcf
         Type:  defect  |     Status:  needs_review
     Priority:  normal  |  Milestone:
    Component:  meek    |    Version:
   Resolution:          |   Keywords:
Actual Points:          |  Parent ID:
       Points:          |
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Changes (by dcf):

 * status:  new => needs_review


Comment:

 Here's a proposed patch that works. I invite comment on it.
  * Make an iconless shallow copy of TorBrowser.app.\\
    https://gitweb.torproject.org/user/dcf/tor-browser-
 bundle.git/commitdiff/b266960a94f8a75835ebc6bc32f44f027503f957

 I'll copy the commit log here.
   This is an implementation of the icon-hiding idea from
 https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/11429#comment:5. The
 Info.plist file enables us to control whether an icon appears, but I could
 find no way to override the values we need at run time. So instead we
 create a copy of the original bundle directory, with the only difference
 being the contents of Info.plist. (The "copy" is actually a few symlinks,
 so it doesn't take much space.)

   The shallow directory copy is in a directory named TorBrowser.app.meek-
 http-helper. I made the name not end in ".app" so that you can't open it
 as a bundle by accident from the Finder. I put a README in the bundle
 directory explaining why the directory exists.

   There's a new build helper, background-plist.py, which deletes the
 LSUIElement key (if present) and sets LSBackgroundOnly=true. This is more
 robust than a sed script that inserts a LSBackgroundOnly key somewhere in
 the XML, because the same key could be already set, or LSUIElement have a
 contradictory value, elsewhere in the file.

   I chose to set the key LSBackgroundOnly, rather than the LSUIElement
 we've discussed so far, though both of them work in terms of hiding the
 icon. I made this decision based only on the documentation for the two
 keys, which makes LSBackgroundOnly sound more background-y.

 [https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/general/Reference/InfoPlistKeyReference/Articles/LaunchServicesKeys.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/20001431-108256
 LSUIElement]
     LSUIElement specifies whether the app runs as an agent app. If this
 key is set to “1”, Launch Services runs the app as an agent app. Agent
 apps do not appear in the Dock or in the Force Quit window. Although they
 typically run as background apps, they can come to the foreground to
 present a user interface if desired. A click on a window belonging to an
 agent app brings that app forward to handle events.

 [https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/general/Reference/InfoPlistKeyReference/Articles/LaunchServicesKeys.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/20001431-109268
 LSBackgroundOnly]
     LSBackgroundOnly specifies whether this app runs only in the
 background. If this key exists and is set to “1”, Launch Services runs the
 app in the background only. You can use this key to create faceless
 background apps. You should also use this key if your app uses higher-
 level frameworks that connect to the window server, but are not intended
 to be visible to users. Background apps must be compiled as Mach-O
 executables.

 The patch adds exactly these new files to the mac bundle:
 {{{
 $ ls -lR Contents/MacOS/TorBrowser.app.meek-http-helper
 total 8
 drwxr-x---@ 6 david  staff  204 May 24 16:04 Contents
 -rw-r-----@ 1 david  staff  672 Dec 31  1999 README

 Contents/MacOS/TorBrowser.app.meek-http-helper/Contents:
 total 40
 -rw-r-----@ 1 david  staff  5563 Dec 31  1999 Info.plist
 lr-xr-xr-x  1 david  staff    35 Dec 31  1999 MacOS ->
 ../../TorBrowser.app/Contents/MacOS
 lr-xr-xr-x  1 david  staff    37 Dec 31  1999 PkgInfo ->
 ../../TorBrowser.app/Contents/PkgInfo
 lr-xr-xr-x  1 david  staff    39 Dec 31  1999 Resources ->
 ../../TorBrowser.app/Contents/Resources
 }}}

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/11429#comment:10>
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