Bug 1648632 - Fix/Enable Firefox shield studies
Summary: Fix/Enable Firefox shield studies
Keywords:
Status: CLOSED EOL
Alias: None
Product: Fedora
Classification: Fedora
Component: firefox
Version: 31
Hardware: Unspecified
OS: Unspecified
unspecified
unspecified
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: Martin Stransky
QA Contact: Fedora Extras Quality Assurance
URL:
Whiteboard:
: 1707599 (view as bug list)
Depends On:
Blocks:
TreeView+ depends on / blocked
 
Reported: 2018-11-11 09:09 UTC by rugk
Modified: 2020-11-24 20:13 UTC (History)
13 users (show)

Fixed In Version:
Doc Type: If docs needed, set a value
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Clone Of:
Environment:
Last Closed: 2020-11-24 20:13:13 UTC
Type: Bug
Embargoed:


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Links
System ID Private Priority Status Summary Last Updated
Mozilla Foundation 1502457 0 -- REOPENED Contextual Feature Recommender (CFR) and other "nightly/local"-only features uses "default" to select cohort 2020-11-04 21:02:49 UTC

Description rugk 2018-11-11 09:09:23 UTC
Description of problem: 

v63.0.1-1 shield studies are apparently totally broken

about:studies looks quite empty despite shield studies being shown as enabled in the settings: https://hostux.pics/image/rc
ALso clicking on "Change setting" there does nothing.

Now v63.0.1-5 lists this in the changelog:

* Disable shield studies by default (mozbz#1502457)

However, after updating the behaviour does not change:

* The checkbox in the settings is still shown as "enabled". (maybe because I've upgraded, don't know?)
* The about:studies page is still unusable.

How reproducible: Always.


Steps to Reproduce:
1. Check settings -> privacy -> Shield studies is clicked.
2. Go to about:studies. E.g. click on "Change settings".

Actual results:
Nothing happens.

Expected results:
Should go to settings and let me change it.

Additional info:

Furthermore I'd really don't like that you disable these studies by default. Every user can decide that by themselves, but wait… you do cite a reason:

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1502457

This issue seems to be about one broken channel detection or so in a study. Now that is a problem 8as upstream admitted), however, that should not lead to disabling *all* shield studies, should it?

I mean Mozilla has said, if I recall, that developing for Linux is e.g. hard, because they often cannot trust the data they get e.g. when deprecating/removing features, because distros have disabled telemetry (or so) by default and thus only after the feature has been removed all cry that something is not working.

So, IMHO, you should adhere to upstreams default here and not disable studies on your own.

Comment 1 fednuc 2018-11-11 16:32:39 UTC
> So, IMHO, you should adhere to upstreams default here and not disable studies on your own.

IMHO, Shield studies should remain crippled in Fedora until Mozilla stops abusing user privacy with them (e.g.: Cliqz) and shovelling adware (e.g.: Mr. Robot).

Comment 2 rugk 2018-11-11 18:18:28 UTC
I am totally aware they did not do everything right in the past and they have apologized for that Mr. Robot thing (https://www.cnet.com/news/mozilla-investigates-mr-robot-firefox-extension-problem/).

Anyway, this is not the topic here.

So whatever you do, the main issue is the UI/UX here. So here some user stories:
* As a user, whether I want to use these studies or not, I want to be able to enable/disable them.
* As a user, whether I want to use these studies or not, I want to see when studies run.

These two things cannot be accomplished in the current way. As the about:studies page is broken, I do not even know for sure, whether studies are actually enabled or not. (The checkbox setting could be wrong, too, as your changelog said you've disabled it, but I am not sure).

So this inconsistent display brings much more fear and doubt that is in any other way, without patches or so.

Comment 3 Martin Stransky 2018-11-12 08:57:55 UTC
I just did what Mozilla folks suggested to fix the immediate issue, consider it as a hotfix/workaround.

We'll update Fedora package and remove the hotfix when a better solution is available (https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1502457 is still NEW).

Also feel free to work on that a provide a correct patch there.

Comment 4 Christian Stadelmann 2019-05-08 19:54:54 UTC
*** Bug 1707599 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 5 rugk 2019-05-09 12:29:20 UTC
Ah as bug 1707599 shows there are good reasons for having studies enabled: E.g. the fast deployment for the add-onageddon (https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2019/05/04/update-regarding-add-ons-in-firefox/).

Anyway, I keep saying: It's the user's decision to enable or disable that feature. It's not on you to override/decide that.
(You could change defaults or so, but adhere to the user's decision.)

It's not do be discussed whether studies or so itself are good or bad. It's the user's decision.

Comment 6 Ben Cotton 2019-10-31 19:01:48 UTC
This message is a reminder that Fedora 29 is nearing its end of life.
Fedora will stop maintaining and issuing updates for Fedora 29 on 2019-11-26.
It is Fedora's policy to close all bug reports from releases that are no longer
maintained. At that time this bug will be closed as EOL if it remains open with a
Fedora 'version' of '29'.

Package Maintainer: If you wish for this bug to remain open because you
plan to fix it in a currently maintained version, simply change the 'version' 
to a later Fedora version.

Thank you for reporting this issue and we are sorry that we were not 
able to fix it before Fedora 29 is end of life. If you would still like 
to see this bug fixed and are able to reproduce it against a later version 
of Fedora, you are encouraged  change the 'version' to a later Fedora 
version prior this bug is closed as described in the policy above.

Although we aim to fix as many bugs as possible during every release's 
lifetime, sometimes those efforts are overtaken by events. Often a 
more recent Fedora release includes newer upstream software that fixes 
bugs or makes them obsolete.

Comment 7 Ben Cotton 2020-11-03 15:04:52 UTC
This message is a reminder that Fedora 31 is nearing its end of life.
Fedora will stop maintaining and issuing updates for Fedora 31 on 2020-11-24.
It is Fedora's policy to close all bug reports from releases that are no longer
maintained. At that time this bug will be closed as EOL if it remains open with a
Fedora 'version' of '31'.

Package Maintainer: If you wish for this bug to remain open because you
plan to fix it in a currently maintained version, simply change the 'version' 
to a later Fedora version.

Thank you for reporting this issue and we are sorry that we were not 
able to fix it before Fedora 31 is end of life. If you would still like 
to see this bug fixed and are able to reproduce it against a later version 
of Fedora, you are encouraged  change the 'version' to a later Fedora 
version prior this bug is closed as described in the policy above.

Although we aim to fix as many bugs as possible during every release's 
lifetime, sometimes those efforts are overtaken by events. Often a 
more recent Fedora release includes newer upstream software that fixes 
bugs or makes them obsolete.

Comment 8 Ben Cotton 2020-11-24 20:13:13 UTC
Fedora 31 changed to end-of-life (EOL) status on 2020-11-24. Fedora 31 is
no longer maintained, which means that it will not receive any further
security or bug fix updates. As a result we are closing this bug.

If you can reproduce this bug against a currently maintained version of
Fedora please feel free to reopen this bug against that version. If you
are unable to reopen this bug, please file a new report against the
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bug.

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