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

Mon Oct 23 15:42:01 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 linda):

 Thanks for your thoughtful comment!

 > > 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?

 This is a good point. I think that I should try to encourage this before
 sending an email. We can specify what bridges to try, and in what order. I
 think a danger of this is that people will make mistakes and reveal that
 they are using Tor, but I feel like if they email us, they'll give up
 entirely and be in more danger.

 > > 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?

 I think this is a great addition to the text. No arguments here. The text
 above was just the text to start, and didn't think of everything to
 include.

 > 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>
 >
 > <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.</p>
 >
 >
 > <p>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.</p>
 >
 > <p> 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:</p>
 >
 > <blockquote><b>1. VPN</b><br>
 > 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><b>2. HTTP/Socks Proxy</b><br>
 > 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><b>3. Specialized Tool </b><br>
 > 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>
 >
 > <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>
 >
 > <p> The following is a brief introduction on what each blank means and
 how you may find the proper input value:</p>
 >
 > <blockquote><b>1. Proxy Type</b><br>
 > 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><b>2. Proxy IP/hostname</b><br>
 > 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><b>3. Proxy Port number</b><br>
 > 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><b>4. Username and Password</b><br>
 > 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 would be happy to include some of this text into the text we have in the
 tor-launcher.

 > I am open and happy to have a further discussion!

 I am too--maybe a synchronous discussion would work best. I'll reach out
 to both of you via email about this.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/23261#comment:27>
Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki <https://trac.torproject.org/>
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