1 Topic by throgh

  • throgh
  • throgh
  • Package Development and Community Coordinator
  • Offline
  • From: Planet Earth
  • Registered: 2017-12-28
  • Posts: 2,924

Topic: Enabling sync-option within Iceweasel-UXP with own server setting up?

Hello,

is the sync-option disabled within Iceweasel-UXP? Would it be possible to enable this and adding FSyncMS as own package?

Human being in favor with clear principles and so also for freedom in soft- and hardware!

Certainly anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices: For a life of every being full with peace and kindness, including diversity and freedom. Capitalism is destroying our minds, the planet itself and the universe in the end!

2 Reply by zapper

  • zapper
  • zapper
  • Hyper Cyber
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2017-10-18
  • Posts: 1,075

Re: Enabling sync-option within Iceweasel-UXP with own server setting up?

throgh wrote:

Hello,

is the sync-option disabled within Iceweasel-UXP? Would it be possible to enable this and adding FSyncMS as own package?

Hmm... is that secure enough to use in Iceweasel-uxp?

And also, what does sync do?

HyperbolaBSD: The Future of Secure Libre Lightweight Operating Systems!

3 Reply by throgh

  • throgh
  • throgh
  • Package Development and Community Coordinator
  • Offline
  • From: Planet Earth
  • Registered: 2017-12-28
  • Posts: 2,924

Re: Enabling sync-option within Iceweasel-UXP with own server setting up?

Sync itself helps to save user settings and bookmarks for example. So you are able to have those synchronized between installations on different machines. But the point is absolutely correct: Is it really secure enough for being enabled with Iceweasel-UXP? Perhaps somebody has more information about that because that's also part of my question and would be really interesting to know. Having the possibility to synchronize bookmarks would be nice and helpful. But from my understanding the dialog for logging into the service must be also changed enabling it only for custom servers instead one single recommendation - also used within palemoon or basilisk.

Human being in favor with clear principles and so also for freedom in soft- and hardware!

Certainly anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices: For a life of every being full with peace and kindness, including diversity and freedom. Capitalism is destroying our minds, the planet itself and the universe in the end!

4 Reply by g4jc

  • g4jc
  • Member
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2017-09-10
  • Posts: 44

Re: Enabling sync-option within Iceweasel-UXP with own server setting up?

Sync is bad for privacy/security since it sends your private information (bookmarks, addons, settings) over the internet and to a central server.
See also: SaaSS

The default Sync server was Firefox Sync, which no longer works, and was subsequently changed in UXP to be PM Sync. We are not authorized to use PM Sync servers. (Besides the fact those servers are not under our control, it costs them a lot of money and takes a lot of space for them to run it.)

The current UXP version of  Sync (Weave) does allow self-hosting. However, we hard-disable sync in iceweasel-uxp for privacy reasons and to avoid anyone accidentally sending their data to PM Sync servers.

If you wanted to self-host and re-enable the flag, it is currently still doable - although untested and unsupported. As you mentioned I believe it needs a dialog box changed to allow overriding the default recommendation. Alternatively you could patch the default sync server in UXP. However, I haven't looked into it.

I would still caution that sending private browser configuration data over the network is not a good idea for fingerprinting and privacy reasons.

5 Reply by throgh

  • throgh
  • throgh
  • Package Development and Community Coordinator
  • Offline
  • From: Planet Earth
  • Registered: 2017-12-28
  • Posts: 2,924

Re: Enabling sync-option within Iceweasel-UXP with own server setting up?

g4jc wrote:

Sync is bad for privacy/security since it sends your private information (bookmarks, addons, settings) over the internet and to a central server.
See also: SaaSS

The default Sync server was Firefox Sync, which no longer works, and was subsequently changed in UXP to be PM Sync. We are not authorized to use PM Sync servers. (Besides the fact those servers are not under our control, it costs them a lot of money and takes a lot of space for them to run it.)

The current UXP version of  Sync (Weave) does allow self-hosting. However, we hard-disable sync in iceweasel-uxp for privacy reasons and to avoid anyone accidentally sending their data to PM Sync servers.

If you wanted to self-host and re-enable the flag, it is currently still doable - although untested and unsupported. As you mentioned I believe it needs a dialog box changed to allow overriding the default recommendation. Alternatively you could patch the default sync server in UXP. However, I haven't looked into it.

I would still caution that sending private browser configuration data over the network is not a good idea for fingerprinting and privacy reasons.

Hey g4jc: Thanks for all the information and the clear statement about privacy. I think this is a good base for later understatement of others to ask also about those features. smile

Human being in favor with clear principles and so also for freedom in soft- and hardware!

Certainly anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices: For a life of every being full with peace and kindness, including diversity and freedom. Capitalism is destroying our minds, the planet itself and the universe in the end!