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Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2019 21:07:17 +0100
From: "Daniel Edgecumbe" <email@esotericnonsense.com>
To: "M.K. Safi via bitcoin-dev" <bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org>
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Subject: Re: [bitcoin-dev] I want to rebuild the GUI in JavaScript
Precedence: list

You may find my (incomplete) front-end of interest:

https://bitcoin.electronrelocation.com

The live demo is backed by a -disablewallet node, but it was able to acc=
ept payments and send them via QR codes before I stopped development.

The source is available via AGPLv3.

https://git.esotericnonsense.com/pub/bitcoin-top.git

I am unable to continue development due to time constraints.

Daniel Edgecumbe | esotericnonsense
email@esotericnonsense.com | https://esotericnonsense.com

On Sat, Nov 23, 2019, at 17:49, Oscar Lafarga via bitcoin-dev wrote:
> Hi MK,
>=20
> I very much share your interests and curiosities here and actually=20
> don't have an answer on whether it's been tried before.
>=20
> One of the few things I am imagining is that given the security-focuse=
d=20
> nature of the Bitcoin Core software, any vulnerabilities in the way NP=
M=20
> handles the dependencies of the Electron app would be a very high=20
> priority (see=20
> https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/23/npm_left_pad_chaos/)=20
>=20
> In NodeJS-land, my sense is that there is a "move fast and break=20
> things" mentality that may have seeped into some practices that may be=
=20
> considered standard. I have seen some recent developments over the pas=
t=20
> few years to address these kinds of issues such as npm-audit (as of=20=

> Node v6+) but I would recommend doing some thorough research on this=20=

> front to make sure there is a secure dependency management solution in=
=20
> place for such a GUI.
>=20
> Another comment I'd make is that if we consider the GUI as a layer tha=
t=20
> is separate from the protocol layer, this mailing list may not be the=20=

> best place to fully discuss this. However I think if anyone here who=20=

> has been around longer can contribute info on past attempts at this, i=
t=20
> could be quite productive. This could technically exist as an=20
> independent client, but I guess there's a conversation on whether this=
=20
> new Electron UI would ever replace the Qt UI, but since it doesn't=20
> exist yet it could be far too early for that.=20
>=20
> Thanks,
>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
>=20
> On Sat, Nov 23, 2019, 2:17 PM M.K. Safi via bitcoin-dev=20
> <bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org> wrote:
> > I=E2=80=99d like to try to rebuild Bitcoin Core GUI using the JavaSc=
ript Electron framework. My goal is to get a real world understanding of=
 the pros and cons of moving from Qt to Electron.
> >=20
> > Before I start, I=E2=80=98d like to know if this has been tried befo=
re or if there are ongoing efforts in this direction by anyone?
> >=20
> > I spent sometime looking into how to implement this. One approach co=
uld be for Electron to drive the UI by running bitcoind and communicatin=
g with it through RPC. But I don=E2=80=99t know if such implementation c=
an achieve feature-parity with the Qt implementation. Qt has the advanta=
ge of direct access to Bitcoin Core code.
> >=20
> > Anyways, I just wanted to share these ideas before going further wit=
h them, so please let me know if you have any information on the above!
> > --=20
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >  _______________________________________________
> >  bitcoin-dev mailing list
> > bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org
> > https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev
> _______________________________________________
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> bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org
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>