[tor-bugs] #30558 [Applications/Tor Browser]: Namecoin support for onion sites in Tor Browser

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#30558: Namecoin support for onion sites in Tor Browser
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 Reporter:  arthuredelstein           |          Owner:  JeremyRand
     Type:  defect                    |         Status:  assigned
 Priority:  Medium                    |      Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Browser  |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal                    |     Resolution:
 Keywords:                            |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:                            |         Points:
 Reviewer:                            |        Sponsor:
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Comment (by JeremyRand):

 Early branch: https://notabug.org/JeremyRand/tor-browser-
 build/src/namecoin (you want the namecoin branch).

 The 3 most major shortcomings in its current state are:

 1. ncprop279 isn't built locally, but instead is pulled from a binary
 release on namecoin.org.  This is because ncprop279 currently needs a
 different version of the Go compiler than tor-browser-build uses, so it
 needs to be built in its own tree.  The binary that's being pulled in is
 (in theory) reproducible with rbm (via the ncdns-repro repository), so
 it's not a security issue, but it makes the build workflow a lot more
 annoying than it should be.  I'm in the process of getting a patch merged
 to Namecoin that will fix this issue; I expect it to be resolved in less
 than a month.
 2. Electrum-NMC is pulled in via the Python source code tarball on
 namecoin.org.  That tarball contains source code from various Python
 dependencies of Electrum.  It would be a lot better to pull in those
 dependencies from their upstream source (either Git or tarballs), and then
 combine them with Electrum-NMC's source (from Git).  I'm in the process of
 implementing this; I expect it to be resolved in less than 2 months.
 3. This branch uses an official Electrum-NMC release rather than the
 Electrum-NMC branch I used in the live demo.  The live demo branch has
 some patches that make initial syncup much faster (nearly instant),
 whereas the official release will probably take about 5 minutes to do
 initial syncup.  Most of the patches for faster syncup are now undergoing
 review by upstream Electrum; this has already yielded much better code
 quality than the live demo branch (shocking, I know -- the Electrum devs
 know their own codebase better than I do!), but it does mean there's some
 delay in getting everything merged.  I think it's likely that a lot of
 this code will be merged upstream in the next 2-3 months.

 Anyway, while this isn't production-ready in any way, I figure it's a good
 idea to post it here for transparency purposes.  If anyone wants to play
 around with it, build a nightly of Tor Browser (must be 64-bit Linux), and
 set the environment variable TOR_ENABLE_NAMECOIN=1 before you run Tor
 Browser.  .bit and .bit.onion sites should "just work" (modulo the initial
 syncup time, see above).  Right now .bit sites can point to IP address or
 onion services, and Namecoin TLS is not part of this patch.  Prior to a
 release, I intend to disable IP addresses, so .bit can only point to a
 .onion, and we can evaluate how to do IP+TLS securely at a later date.  Be
 sure to check out the awesome circuit display when you're viewing a
 Namecoin onion service!  (Kudos to Arthur for the Torbutton patch that
 does this.)

 Cheers!

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/30558#comment:4>
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