[tor-bugs] #18768 [Analysis]: Calculate the fraction of dist.torproject.org traffic for Tor Browser downloads and updates

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#18768: Calculate the fraction of dist.torproject.org traffic for Tor Browser
downloads and updates
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 Reporter:  karsten   |          Owner:
     Type:  task      |         Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium    |      Milestone:
Component:  Analysis  |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal    |     Resolution:
 Keywords:            |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:            |         Points:
 Reviewer:            |        Sponsor:
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Comment (by gk):

 Replying to [comment:6 cypherpunks]:
 > Replying to [comment:5 gk]:
 > > Do we understand the nature of the other requests? 38% sounds quite
 like a non-negligible fraction. Could they come form things like
 https://www.torproject.org/dist/torbrowser/update_2/hardened/Linux_x86_64-gcc3/6.0a4-hardened/ALL
 which are the update checks I talked about above (and which should get an
 update.xml file back as an answer)?
 > 38 is still less than 58.
 >
 > Some time ago I looked at this part of the code and found that update
 checks happen:
 > * at startup;
 > * if online, every app.update.interval seconds (12 hours);
 > * on offline->online transitions;
 > * when opening Help>About Tor Browser;
 > * when opening chrome://mozapps/content/update/updates.xul
 > If this is correct, I would expect the update checks to far ''far''
 outnumber the update downloads.

 I think you are right here. One admittedly far-fetched scenario I had in
 mind while writing my last comment was our incremental .mar file update
 failing badly which could lead up to 2 .mar file requests (one for the
 incremental one and one for the full one) per one update ping. But that
 would imply a weird usage pattern of almost all of our users. So, yes,
 these requests are something else.

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/18768#comment:7>
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