Tor Browser 8 does not respect gtk3 settings

Sorting folders first is ignored in Tor Browser 8 on the file chooser dialog. Rather, the default gtk3 behavior is used which mixes files and folders. However, that worked on Tor Browser 7.

added TorBrowserTeam202006 component::applications/tor browser owner::tbb-team priority::medium reviewer::boklm severity::normal status::assigned tbb-8.0-issues tbb-regression type::defect labels

Also, many preference changes not respected when re-entering file chooser dialog.

To trigger,

1. Open a file (CTRL-O)
2. Right-click and change Sort Folders Before Files (check)
3. Change sorting field (Modified)
4. Also, could make other changes (like Show hideen files or Show Time)
5. Double click on a file to open (a test file)
6. Do other things
7. Open a file again (CTRL-O)
8. Setting changes made before are now gone

This also works same way with Save Page (CTRL-S)

Also, new in Tor Browser 8, clicking on Home (Open your personal folder) in File Chooser now goes to tor_browser_LANG/Browser instead of actual home directory. This is not too big of a thing, but it is different than Tor Browser 7. Maybe it is more security better, so not a thing anyway.

On Linux. Also, I am using a settings.ini file for bettter GTK3 ticket:27546

Trac:
Username: gapegas7uftp

#28428 (moved) is a duplicate.

Trac:
Cc: N/A to sugrynidos

TBB 8 also clobbers gtk file chooser settings for other gtk programs (reported in #28428 (moved)). For example, whether the file chooser or Nautilus sorts folders before files.

1. Running:

$ gsettings set org.gtk.Settings.FileChooser sort-directories-first true
$ gsettings get org.gtk.Settings.FileChooser sort-directories-first
true

2. Then in TBB 8, CTRL-O or CTRL-S to open file chooser. Close it without doing anything.

3. Again running:

$ gsettings get org.gtk.Settings.FileChooser sort-directories-first
false

The issue I describe here is more related to #28428 (moved), which I would argue is not a duplicate of this report (#27903 (moved)) because the latter deals with TBB 8 not respecting gtk settings, while #28428 (moved) deals with TBB 8 actively clobbering gtk settings.

I created a hack workaround that just tries to maintain my preference:

fix-filechooser.sh

while true; do 
    VAL=$(DISPLAY=:0 gsettings get org.gtk.Settings.FileChooser sort-directories-first)

    if [ $VAL == "false" ]; then
        echo "Fixing file chooser settings."
        DISPLAY=:0 gsettings set org.gtk.Settings.FileChooser sort-directories-first true
    fi
    sleep 1
done

Trac:
Username: donnm

#30587 (moved) is a duplicate.

Trac:
Cc: sugrynidos to sugrynidos, califuture

Thanks for the workaround script. On Ubuntu 19.04 I had to drop an "=" to get it to work. I kept getting an error like https://superuser.com/questions/376242/bash-script-while-loop-if-variable-is-true This fixed it.

if [ $VAL = "false" ]; then

Trac:
Username: califuture

#31171 (closed) is a duplicate.

Trac:
Cc: sugrynidos, califuture to sugrynidos, califuture, schappi

dconf has a partial client/server architecture. It uses D-Bus. The server is only involved in writes (and is not activated in the user session until the user modifies a preference).

A "user-db" line specifies a user database. These databases are found in $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/dconf/. The name of the file to open in that directory is exactly as it is written in the profile. This file is expected to be in the binary dconf database format. Note that XDG_CONFIG_HOME cannot be set/modified per terminal or session, because then the writer and reader would be working on different DBs (the writer is started by DBus and cannot see that variable).

We can isolate Tor Browser from dconf-service: {{{ export GSETTINGS_BACKEND=memory }}}

Can confirm that running GSETTINGS_BACKEND=memory ./start-tor-browser fixes it. Using firejail with --nodbus option also works.

I propose that the GSETTINGS_BACKEND fix above be added to the start-tor-browser script which also sets and exports HOME.

Replying to cypherpunks:

Can confirm that running GSETTINGS_BACKEND=memory ./start-tor-browser fixes it. Using firejail with --nodbus option also works.

I propose that the GSETTINGS_BACKEND fix above be added to the start-tor-browser script which also sets and exports HOME.

Does not sound unreasonable to me at first glance. Care to write a small patch for that so we can review it?

Trac:
gsettings_backend.patch

Thanks!

Trac:
Keywords: N/A deleted, TorBrowserTeam201910R added
Status: new to needs_review

Moving tickets to November 2019

Trac:
Keywords: N/A deleted, TorBrowserTeam201911 added

There is no way to do reviews in October 2019 anymore.

Trac:
Keywords: TorBrowserTeam201910R deleted, TorBrowserTeam201911R added

No need for duplicate keyword.

Trac:
Keywords: TorBrowserTeam201911 deleted, N/A added

Polite reminder (and +1) that OP was about TBB ignoring gtk settings, not about the clobbering issue. I came here because TBB's uses the gtk default "Sort Folders Before Files=False" and I also find that sufficiently irritating to request a fix.

This wouldn't require sharing the user's dconf database, it would be fine if TBB had its own (settable via DCONF_PROFILE according to https://developer.gnome.org/dconf/unstable/dconf-overview.html#Profiles), and the user had to change the settings separately there. But right now I think those settings are simply not loaded.

Trac:
Username: Librenox

Assigning more tickets to boklm for the next few months

Trac:
Cc: sugrynidos, califuture, schappi to sugrynidos, califuture, schappi, tbb-team
Status: needs_review to assigned
Owner: tbb-team to boklm

Trac:
Status: assigned to needs_review

We are in December now.

Trac:
Keywords: TorBrowserTeam201911R deleted, TorBrowserTeam201912R added

Trac:
Reviewer: N/A to boklm