Request for Porting TBB to FreeBSD

M

markbsd

It would be really nice to have a FreeBSD compatible version of the Tor Browser Bundle! Not sure if this is the right place to request it. Countless hours of googling and hassling people has revealed that TOR on FreeBSD is a bit abstract. Where running TOR with a secure browser and easy configuration on Linux, Mac and Windows is as simple as extracting a zip and running an executable which loads TOR, a nice GUI front end (Vidalia) and a custom, torified browser (Firefox), FreeBSD is comparatively awkward. TOR is easily enough installed. But then you need to install and configure a proxy (Privoxy or Polipo) -- not as easily done -- and then install the GUI front end (also easy enough), but then you need to configure a browser, which unfortunately detracts from the pseudonymity of FOR, as the browser is highly individualized -- not good. If FreeBSD is able to use the default browser from the Tor Browser Bundle it effectively increases the efficacy of the entire TOR network, and, most importantly, improves the anonymity of the individual client running TOR on FreeBSD. Thanks.
 
I would contribute to its development, as I'm sure many others would too. But how much would depend on how long until it's developed.
 
markbsd said:
I would contribute to its development, as I'm sure many others would too. But how much would depend on how long until it's developed.
Click to expand...

The freebsd-ports mailing list is a good place to start a discussion related to your request ;)
About freebsd-ports

Discussions concerning FreeBSD's "ports collection" (/usr/ports), proposed ports, modifications to ports collection infrastructure and general coordination efforts.
Click to expand...

PS. Also, I suggest to use the Forums to report the porting state.
 
markbsd said:
There's virtually zero Tor chatter on the mailing lists :(
Click to expand...

Do you like to bet? It's likely that you be the first to ask about this matter. At least you should post it there, also if you remain optimistic soon or later someone interested will answer your thread :)

Generally, in such cases, the most important part is to explain clearly your contribution. Furthermore, you should take a look to the wanted ports list, there are a lot of work to do. So a must read is the FreeBSD Porter's Handbook.
 
cpm said:
Do you like to bet? It's likely that you be the first to ask about this matter. At least you should post it there, also if you remain optimistic soon or later someone interested will answer your thread :)

Generally, in such cases, the most important part is to explain clearly your contribution. Furthermore, you should take a look to the wanted ports list, there are a lot of work to do. So a must read is the FreeBSD Porter's Handbook.
Click to expand...

I'm not a gambling man. I'm also rather inexperienced with mailing lists -- I find forums much easier to navigate. I really don't know where to begin; who to ask, what to ask, where to ask it?

jasmine said:
You haven't looked enough.

http://www.nycbug.org/pipermail/tor-bsd/2013-September/000049.html
Click to expand...


Thanks, @jasmine. You're really very helpful :)

However, that thread ultimately leads no where; we're still at square one. I see that, there are others who would like to see TBB for FreeBSD, and [programmers] who believe they're capable of providing it, but no more discussion and no FreeBSD TBB.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Maybe you could be interested to test www/linux-tor-browser port.

For Tor Browser Bundle to work:
Code: 
# svn co https://trillian.chruetertee.ch/svn/freebsd-gecko/trunk/www/linux-tor-browser
# cd linux-tor-browser
# make install clean
# start-tor-browser

You need the following ports to build/run it:
Code: 
[CMD]% make build-depends-list[/CMD]
/usr/ports/security/ca_root_nss

[CMD]% make run-depends-list[/CMD]
/usr/ports/accessibility/linux-c6-atk
/usr/ports/audio/linux-c6-alsa-lib
/usr/ports/audio/linux-c6-alsa-plugins-oss
/usr/ports/devel/linux-c6-dbus-glib
/usr/ports/devel/linux-c6-dbus-libs
/usr/ports/emulators/linux_base-c6
/usr/ports/graphics/linux-c6-cairo
/usr/ports/graphics/linux-c6-jpeg
/usr/ports/graphics/linux-c6-png
/usr/ports/graphics/linux-c6-tiff
/usr/ports/textproc/linux-c6-expat
/usr/ports/x11-fonts/linux-c6-fontconfig
/usr/ports/x11-toolkits/linux-c6-gtk2
/usr/ports/x11-toolkits/linux-c6-pango
/usr/ports/x11/linux-c6-xorg-libs

Please, download all required dependencies from this GH repository.

Finally, install www/linux-firefox to test it.
 
TBB is inherently unsafe, and not worth the effort to be ported to FreeBSD. It is unable to completely separate tor browser and the rest of the system. As a result, TBB users are typically recommended to avoid using JavaScript, Flash, and to not go to particular pages. This is just unreasonable.

The only reason why TBB is created and promoted by the TorProject foundation is that it is very easy to install for the mass user, and they are willing to close their eyes on the associated security problems in TBB. They see it as a necessary evil in order to mass-promote their tor router (which itself is IMO a very good and secure product). Many bugs will yet be found in it in the future due to the complexity of their codebase.

TBB is okay for Windows users, for Linux mass users, etc. But there are way better solutions in FreeBSD, and in general.

One better solution is Whonix: https://www.whonix.org/. Your favorite OS runs in the VM with another VM acting as a tor router.

Another solution I just designed and implemented myself: vbox-to-tor https://github.com/yurivict/freebsd-vbox-to-tor
It allows to connect any VirtualBox VM to the tor instance without any overhead. So any OS running in VM can be connected to the tor running on the host.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top