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From: Oscar Lafarga <otech47@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2019 17:49:18 +0100
Message-ID: <CAO7Y_eX2egYNw+h_jDGTYx1R5sC1zrTOXOHuJU4rY66rWKRwAw@mail.gmail.com>
To: "M.K. Safi" <msafi@msafi.com>, 
 Bitcoin Protocol Discussion <bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org>
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Subject: Re: [bitcoin-dev] I want to rebuild the GUI in JavaScript
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Hi MK,

I very much share your interests and curiosities here and actually don't
have an answer on whether it's been tried before.

One of the few things I am imagining is that given the security-focused
nature of the Bitcoin Core software, any vulnerabilities in the way NPM
handles the dependencies of the Electron app would be a very high priority
(see https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/23/npm_left_pad_chaos/)

In NodeJS-land, my sense is that there is a "move fast and break things"
mentality that may have seeped into some practices that may be considered
standard. I have seen some recent developments over the past few years to
address these kinds of issues such as npm-audit (as of Node v6+) but I
would recommend doing some thorough research on this front to make sure
there is a secure dependency management solution in place for such a GUI.

Another comment I'd make is that if we consider the GUI as a layer that is
separate from the protocol layer, this mailing list may not be the best
place to fully discuss this. However I think if anyone here who has been
around longer can contribute info on past attempts at this, it could be
quite productive. This could technically exist as an independent client,
but I guess there's a conversation on whether this new Electron UI would
ever replace the Qt UI, but since it doesn't exist yet it could be far too
early for that.

Thanks,


On Sat, Nov 23, 2019, 2:17 PM M.K. Safi via bitcoin-dev <
bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org> wrote:

> I=E2=80=99d like to try to rebuild Bitcoin Core GUI using the JavaScript =
Electron
> framework. My goal is to get a real world understanding of the pros and
> cons of moving from Qt to Electron.
>
> Before I start, I=E2=80=98d like to know if this has been tried before or=
 if there
> are ongoing efforts in this direction by anyone?
>
> I spent sometime looking into how to implement this. One approach could b=
e
> for Electron to drive the UI by running bitcoind and communicating with i=
t
> through RPC. But I don=E2=80=99t know if such implementation can achieve
> feature-parity with the Qt implementation. Qt has the advantage of direct
> access to Bitcoin Core code.
>
> Anyways, I just wanted to share these ideas before going further with
> them, so please let me know if you have any information on the above!
> --
> 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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<div dir=3D"auto"><div>Hi MK,<div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div dir=3D"auto">=
I very much share your interests and curiosities here and actually don&#39;=
t have an answer on whether it&#39;s been tried before.</div><div dir=3D"au=
to"><br></div><div dir=3D"auto">One of the few things I am imagining is tha=
t given the security-focused nature of the Bitcoin Core software, any vulne=
rabilities in the way NPM handles the dependencies of the Electron app woul=
d be a very high priority (see <a href=3D"https://www.theregister.co.uk/201=
6/03/23/npm_left_pad_chaos/" target=3D"_blank" rel=3D"noreferrer">https://w=
ww.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/23/npm_left_pad_chaos/</a>)=C2=A0</div><div di=
r=3D"auto"><br></div><div dir=3D"auto">In NodeJS-land, my sense is that the=
re is a &quot;move fast and break things&quot; mentality that may have seep=
ed into some practices that may be considered standard. I have seen some re=
cent developments over the past few years to address these kinds of issues =
such as npm-audit (as of Node v6+) but I would recommend doing some thoroug=
h research on this front to make sure there is a secure dependency manageme=
nt solution in place for such a GUI.</div><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div =
dir=3D"auto">Another comment I&#39;d make is that if we consider the GUI as=
 a layer that is separate from the protocol layer, this mailing list may no=
t be the best place to fully discuss this. However I think if anyone here w=
ho has been around longer can contribute info on past attempts at this, it =
could be quite productive. This could technically exist as an independent c=
lient, but I guess there&#39;s a conversation on whether this new Electron =
UI would ever replace the Qt UI, but since it doesn&#39;t exist yet it coul=
d be far too early for that.=C2=A0</div><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div di=
r=3D"auto">Thanks,</div><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div dir=3D"auto"><br><=
/div><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><br><br><div c=
lass=3D"gmail_quote"><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr">On Sat, Nov 23, =
2019, 2:17 PM M.K. Safi via bitcoin-dev &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:bitcoin-dev@l=
ists.linuxfoundation.org" rel=3D"noreferrer noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">b=
itcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div><blockquote cl=
ass=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;p=
adding-left:1ex"><div dir=3D"auto">I=E2=80=99d like to try to rebuild Bitco=
in Core GUI using the JavaScript Electron framework. My goal is to get a re=
al world understanding of the pros and cons of moving from Qt to Electron.<=
/div><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div dir=3D"auto">Before I start, I=E2=80=
=98d like to know if this has been tried before or if there are ongoing eff=
orts in this direction by anyone?</div><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div dir=
=3D"auto">I spent sometime looking into how to implement this. One approach=
 could 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 can =
achieve feature-parity with the Qt implementation. Qt has the advantage of =
direct access to Bitcoin Core code.</div><div dir=3D"auto"><br></div><div d=
ir=3D"auto">Anyways, I just wanted to share these ideas before going furthe=
r with them, so please let me know if you have any information on the above=
!</div>-- <br><div dir=3D"ltr" data-smartmail=3D"gmail_signature">Sent from=
 my iPhone</div>
_______________________________________________<br>
bitcoin-dev mailing list<br>
<a href=3D"mailto:bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.org" rel=3D"noreferrer =
noreferrer noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">bitcoin-dev@lists.linuxfoundation.=
org</a><br>
<a href=3D"https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev" =
rel=3D"noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">https=
://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev</a><br>
</blockquote></div>
</div></div>

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