[tor-bugs] #22488 [Metrics/Onionoo]: Include relay version listed in consensus in addition to platform line from server descriptor

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#22488: Include relay version listed in consensus in addition to platform line from
server descriptor
-----------------------------+-----------------------------------
 Reporter:  cypherpunks      |          Owner:  metrics-team
     Type:  enhancement      |         Status:  needs_information
 Priority:  High             |      Milestone:  Onionoo-1.8.0
Component:  Metrics/Onionoo  |        Version:
 Severity:  Normal           |     Resolution:
 Keywords:  metrics-2017     |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:                   |         Points:
 Reviewer:                   |        Sponsor:
-----------------------------+-----------------------------------
Changes (by karsten):

 * status:  reopened => needs_information


Comment:

 Hmm, you might have found something here, but I'm not certain yet. (And I
 have too many other things going on to take a closer look.)

 For the record, recommended server versions as of your comment were:
 0.2.5.16, 0.2.5.17, 0.2.9.14, 0.2.9.15, 0.3.0.13, 0.3.0.14, 0.3.1.9,
 0.3.1.10, 0.3.2.8-rc, 0.3.2.9.

 Please find the
 [https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/attachment/ticket/22488/task-22488
 -relay-versions.csv.gz attached compressed CSV file] which contains:
  - fingerprint: the relay fingerprint, limited to the relays you listed
  - timestamp: the timestamp when a descriptor was published or after which
 a status was declared valid
  - descriptor: "server" for server descriptors published by the relay,
 "vote" for network status votes, "consensus" for network status
 consensuses
  - authority: authority nickname in case of a vote and blank otherwise
  - version: tor software version

 Again, I'm not certain yet, but it looks like there's a delay of a few
 hours between relays publishing a server descriptor with a new tor
 software version number and authorities including that version in their
 votes. This delay is different between authorities, with some authorities
 picking up the change earlier than others.

 If this is true, and somebody would have to look through the attached file
 in detail, that's a bug in the authorities. Totally wild guess:
 authorities might consider platform changes "cosmetic" and continue using
 an older descriptor of the relay until that gets too old.

 However, from Onionoo's perspective I think we don't have a bug here.
 Onionoo uses whatever version it sees in the consensus to say whether a
 relay runs a recommended version or not. If the authorities don't update
 that version number properly, that's not something that Onionoo can fix.

 Want to analyze this more and possibly open a ticket in Core Tor/Tor if
 you can confirm that this is a bug in tor? (But please don't move this
 ticket to that component, because 90% of what's discussed above is
 irrelevant for the issue you may have found.)

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/22488#comment:11>
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