[tor-bugs] #23261 [Applications/Tor Launcher]: implement configuration portion of new Tor Launcher UI

Sat Oct 21 06:35:05 UTC 2017

#23261: implement configuration portion of new Tor Launcher UI
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 Reporter:  mcs                             |          Owner:  brade
     Type:  defect                          |         Status:  needs_review
 Priority:  Medium                          |      Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Launcher       |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal                          |     Resolution:
 Keywords:  ux-team, TorBrowserTeam201710R  |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:  #21951                          |         Points:
 Reviewer:                                  |        Sponsor:  Sponsor4
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Comment (by iry):

 >> Should the "For assistance" text that appears on the current setup
 wizard and Network Settings window be kept or removed? It is not included
 in the design. This may also be a question for our community people
 (Colin, I am looking at you)
 > Ah, it was not my intention to take that out. I just forgot to add it
 when I designed it. I'm an advocate for keeping that help desk shoutout
 there.

 Hi @Linda !

 I am curious if there will be an improvement on the usability of that URL:
 https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/22402

 > Because of how certain countries try to block Tor, certain bridges work
 in certain countries but not others. If you are unsure about which bridges
 work in your country, contact us at frontdesk@….

 It seems that requiring to send an email may not be very good for the
 usability, especially when the email address or email server can also be
 censored. Do you think listing the methods that work for  common countries
 that censors Tor helpful? Also, it may be less time-consuming to encourage
 users try all the bridges type available instead of sending an email?

 > A local proxy is needed when connection though a company, school, or
 university network. If you are not sure how to answer this question, look
 at the Internet settings in another browser or check your system's network
 settings to see whether a proxy is needed.

 Although it is not encouraged or even being against by tpo, another usual
 case for using a local proxy is when the proxy is part of a censorship
 circumvention tool. We may address the discouragement for using a third-
 party censorship circumvention tool in the help text, but just do not
 mention the case may not good for user for both usability and security?

 FYI, the following is the help text for Bridge and Proxy in anon-
 connection-wizard, which you may find helpful:

 ** <p><b>  Censorship Circumvention Help</b></p>

If you are unable to connect to the Tor network, it could be that your
 Internet Service
 Provider (ISP) or another agency is blocking Tor. Often, you can work
 around this problem
 by using Tor Bridges, which are unlisted relays that are more difficult to
 block.

Tor bridges are the recommended way to circumvent the Tor censorship.
 You should always take it as the first option to help you pypass the Tor
 censorship. However, if you are living in a heavily censored area where
 all the Tor bridges are invalid, you may need to use some third-party
 censorship circumvention tools to help you instead. In such a case, you
 should choose not using Tor bridges to help you bypass the Tor
 censorship.

Using a third-party censorship circumvention tool may harm you
 security and/or anonimity. However, in case you do need it, the following
 is an instruction on how to connect to the Tor network using different
 censorship circumvention tools:

<blockquote>1. VPN 
 1. Establish your connection to the VPN server; 2. Hit the "back" buton on
 this page, going to the first page; 3. Hit the "Connect" button on the
 first page.</blockquote>

<blockquote>2. HTTP/Socks Proxy 
 1. Choose not using Tor bridges in this page; 2. Hit the "next" buton on
 this page, going the Proxy Configuration page; 3. Configure a
 proxy.</blockquote>

<blockquote>3. Specialized Tool 
 1. Figure out the listening port of the tool, including the port protocal
 and the port number; 2. Choose not using Tor bridges in this page; 3. Hit
 the "next" buton on this page, going the Proxy Configuration page; 4.
 Configure a proxy.</blockquote>

 ** <p><b>  Proxy Help</b></p>

In some situiations, you may want to transfer your traffic through a
 proxy server before connecting to the Tor network. For example, if you are
 trying to use a third-party censorship circumvention tool to bypass the
 Tor censorship, you need to configure Tor to connect to the listening port
 of that circumvention tools.

 <p> The following is a brief introduction on what each blank means and how
 you may find the proper input value:</p>

<blockquote>1. Proxy Type 
 The proxy type is protocal you use to communicate with the proxy server.
 Since there are only three options, you can try all of them to see which
 one works.</blockquote>

<blockquote>2. Proxy IP/hostname 
 You have to know the port number you are trying to connect to. If you are
 trying to connect to a local proxy, you should try 127.0.0.1 since it
 means localhost.</blockquote>

<blockquote>3. Proxy Port number 
 You have to know the port number you are trying to connect to. It should
 be a positive integer from 1 to 65535. If you are trying to find the
 listening port number of a well-known censorship circumvention tool, you
 may simply search it online.</blockquote>

<blockquote>4. Username and Password 
 If you do not know what they are, just leave them blank to see if the
 connection will success. Because in most cases, you do not need
 them.</blockquote>

 What do you think, @Linda @mcs ?

 I am open and happy to have a further discussion!

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/23261#comment:26>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
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