On Thu, Dec 20, 2018 at 9:51 AM Mark Smith <m...@pearlcrescent.com> wrote: > > On 12/13/18 3:56 PM, Nick Mathewson wrote: > > ... > > In 0.4.0.x, Tor will begin supporting a new "dormant" mode in which it > > does not initiate network activity, and tries to avoid CPU wakeups. > > ... > > > > == Compatibility issues > > > > I see two issues here: one minor, and one major. > > > > Minor issue: some applications periodically make requests to the tor > > network on their own -- for example, Tor Browser's update requests. > > These requests prevent Tor from becoming dormant. If this is > > undesired, we can add some way around this. > > Tor Browser's update requests happen twice per day (and only for desktop > browsers). I am not 100% sure, but I don't think any other timer-based > requests occur more frequently in Tor Browser, so I don't think this > will cause too much activity.
This is enough activity to make sure that under the (current) default schedule, Tor will never become dormant. We should think of a workaround if this is not the intended behavior. > > Major issue: some applications expect that Tor will always bootstrap > > when it starts, and delay presenting their own UI until Tor is ready. > > But if Tor starts as dormant, then it will not bootstrap until it > > receives a request from the client or a "SIGNAL ACTIVE" command from > > the controller. This could lead to breakage as the application waits > > for Tor to tell it that it's ready, and Tor waits for somebody to tell > > it that it's needed. > > Since most users will use their browser very soon after they start it, > for Tor Browser we will probably need to do "SIGNAL ACTIVE" each time > during startup. For us it would be convenient if there was a way to do > that on the command line or equivalently via a torrc option. We could add an option like that, sure. > > Are all application developers okay with the issues above, and okay > > with working around them? If not, we may need changes in Tor before > > 0.4.0.x is released. Let's talk! > > I am sure I can find out somewhere, but what is the approximate schedule > for 0.4.0.x? We're planning to put the first alpha out in mid-January, and aim for a stable in mid-April. Our alpha plans usually run on schedule; our stables seem to be happening late. cheers -- Nick _______________________________________________ tor-dev mailing list tor-dev@lists.torproject.org https://lists.torproject.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tor-dev
