[tor-bugs] #21542 [Applications/Tor Launcher]: use Subprocess.jsm to launch tor

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#21542: use Subprocess.jsm to launch tor
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 Reporter:  mcs                                  |          Owner:  brade
     Type:  defect                               |         Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium                               |      Milestone:
Component:  Applications/Tor Launcher            |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal                               |     Resolution:
 Keywords:  tbb-usability, ff52-esr,             |  Actual Points:
  TorBrowserTeam201805                           |
Parent ID:  #10059                               |         Points:
 Reviewer:                                       |        Sponsor:
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Comment (by mcs):

 Replying to [comment:18 arma]:
 > mcs / gk: is this idea still plausible? Or did it get swept away by
 Firefox policy changes?
 >
 > I ask because now that the Tor Browser logs are more accessible, I have
 resumed being interested in #10059.

 It is still a plausible idea, at least for desktop Tor Browser (Firefox on
 Android does not ship the required `Subprocess.jsm` module, but maybe tor
 log capture is already a solved problem on Android; I don't know).

 A couple of years ago, Kathy and I experimented with using Subprocess.jsm
 in Tor Launcher but we ran into a problem where the tor process did not
 start up right away. Our theory was that the asynchronous nature of the
 Subprocess.jsm implementation did not play together well with Tor
 Launcher's use of modal dialogs. We should try again sometime, especially
 if we are planning to pursue option 3 from #27476 (which presumably would
 eliminate Tor Launcher's modal startup window).

 As I said before, it would be best for the browser capture stdout/stderr
 rather than doing something like #10059 because there are cases where tor
 can't start at all (so no control port connection is possible).

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/21542#comment:19>
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