[tor-bugs] #9814 [Atlas]: Atlas should make clear when relay details come from outdated consensus

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#9814: Atlas should make clear when relay details come from outdated consensus
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 Reporter:  wfn     |          Owner:  hellais
     Type:  defect  |         Status:  new
 Priority:  normal  |      Milestone:
Component:  Atlas   |        Version:
 Keywords:          |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:          |         Points:
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 This is relevant to both Atlas and Globe, as far as I gather. Wasn't
 entirely sure whom to CC, sorry if too many recipients.

 Two very much related things:

  1. Onionoo-using tools should make clear to the user when relay flags
 come from an outdated consensus.

  2. Onionoo-using tools should be careful using the keyword ''uptime'',
 especially when relay is not running (not present in the last consensus).

 Example:
 [https://atlas.torproject.org/#details/0FB356FBE623B3F6C8A2CC3CA42E0E7681F72FE7
 relay 0FB356FB... on Atlas] (if the relay gets included in the newest
 consensus, see attached image (atlas_details_relay_running.png)). Here the
 problem is that Atlas
 ([http://globe.rndm.de/#/relay/0FB356FBE623B3F6C8A2CC3CA42E0E7681F72FE7
 and Globe as well]) may show the ''Running'' flag to be present, but show
 the overall relay as not running (''running: false'').

 The latter is because the relay wasn't featured in the last consensus (as
 reported by Onionoo); the former is because Onionoo is returning the last
 known flags (from the last consensus where the relay was featured in) for
 this relay, among which the ''Running'' flag is present.

 As Karsten said,

 > The flags thing is a presentation problem, not a data problem.
 > Onionoo should include the latest flags, but Atlas (and Globe?) should
 > present them in a non-confusing way.  Atlas (and Globe) can learn from
 > last_seen when these flags were contained in a consensus.


 Flags could either get some simple indication of being old / 'not fresh'
 (simply when ''running: false''), and/or there could be a small field
 indicating where these flags are coming from ("reported by last available
 consensus" in green, vs. "reported by authorities at <Onionoo:last_seen>
 (outdated by <in_hours(Onionoo:relays_published - Onionoo:last_seen)>
 hours)", or somesuch.)

 Likewise with the ''uptime'' keyword: I suppose that either the name for
 that field (which is derived from Onionoo's ''last_restarted'') should be
 changed (I guess ''last restarted'' doesn't sound intuitive? It would
 actually make sense to me at least / would be more honest), or it should
 be removed when ''running: false''.

 Re: fixing this:

  * re: 2., if it's only about removing the uptime field/span when relay
 not running, it'd just be about inserting a simple conditional at
 https://gitweb.torproject.org/atlas.git/blob/HEAD:/templates/details/main.html#l101
 I suppose?

  * re: 1., depends on decision, but should be similarly simple.

  * haven't looked at Globe's code

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/9814>
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