Re: flag to use tor

[Max Zettlmeißl]

On Tue, Nov 17, 2020 at 6:14 AM Richard Stallman <rms@gnu.org> wrote:
> I want to connect through Tor all the time, but sometimes these
> commands betray me.  I added a switch to VC to make it connect
> through Tor always, but it would be good to have a facility that
> would do this to all internet connections that Emacs packages make.
>
> Some packages connect directly in Lisp. and some connect by running
> subprocesses.  For the subprocesses, using 'torsocks' is an easy fix.
> The hard part is to change all the packages that need fixing.

I have been missing such a feature too.
The hardest part when not routing every single connection through Tor
on a lower level, is to know whether all connections originating from
Emacs really are going through Tor and I have always been hesitant to
fully trust the solutions which I came up with.
The solution which I trusted most, was running Emacs in a separate
network namespace and routing all the namespace's connections through
Tor.

> A super-simple approach is to have a switch with two settings: Tor, or
> not Tor.  A more complex feature would give a systematic way to
> specify exceptions.

I guess a more fine grained approach is required to really provide a
solution to everyone.
One example of a case where one might desire a more fine grained
control: When using tramp mode to edit files on a server, one might
not always be in a position where a connection from a Tor node is
allowed by the server.

I'm in favour of such a facility, but it should not provide a false
sense of security and therefore in my opinion either be implemented
properly or not at all.