5 ms·

Sounds like a Chromium bug, not a Debian bug--it's an insidious way to keep Google search as the default.

sascha_sl 4y ago
Reporting that there is a policy is no bug, but maybe there should be a way to signify that it's customized by your software vendor (i.e. signed and keys are compiled in) and that it just sets the default search engine. Chromium does change the message to "This device is managed by <google workspaces domain>" if attached to Chrome Enterprise.
- brnt 4y ago
  Being "managed by" and loading a policy config do not equate in meaning, unless we let PR departments redefine words. Moreover, defaulting to Google is also a policy.
  - sascha_sl 4y ago
    The intent behind policy loading in Chrome is to allow an MDM to configure the browser, not for distros to not write a real patch.
    - brnt 4y ago
      Perhaps. Describing loading a custom policy with "managed by" is still incorrect and potentially misleading.
  - kccqzy 4y ago
    The policy config is designed for enterprises, not software distributors. It's Debian that's taking an unnecessary shortcut here. They could've patched the source code to change the default search engine.
yunohn 4y ago
Preconfigured profiles are the right way to solve this, it’s just that the message could be worded more kindly.
- nightpool 4y ago
  No, preconfigured profiles are not the right way to solve this, as the message clearly indicates, pre-configured profiles are designed to be managed by the owner of the computer, not the software distributor. The right way to solve this would be to change the built-in default that applies before any profile is processed. This also would allow any other profile to override it if they wanted. EDIT: Apparently the Debian team agrees: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=956012#72 https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=956012#72
unknownaccount 4y ago
The only bug here is the changing of the search engine to a sketchy website without user input or consent.
DannyBee 4y ago
Uh, no? This is managed policy, and this is a 100% good way of letting the user know that someone else has control of their settings Just because Debian thinks that they are doing the right thing, they are in fact, controlling the user's settings through a policy It's just telling you that, as it should. The notion that it has anything to do with keeping search the default or not is like, such a silly assumption i don't know where to begin. The feature overall came from a desire of enterprises to manage browser settings. Back then, Google was one of the first to tell you someone was doing that to you so that you knew your organization could see and control your settings. IE had a deployment kit that let you deploy managed browser settings, but you didn't get told (this changed, eventually, i think, it's been a while) Letting orgs change the default search engine was an explicit, designed goal, since some wanted to redirect people to their internal searches by default, etc. There is in fact, another way to do this that is easy and doesn't give the user the same warning, and is meant for software distributors You can just use master preferences here for this kind of thing and it is meant for this use case. Google in fact, made this easy and officially supported, despite your claim. It would likely be pretty silly to make this hard - end users aren't using these interfaces or tools, and distributors always know how to change this stuff . As HN as grown in popularity, the sheer number of kneejerk reaction comments has unfortunately kept pace (IE the overall percent has not dropped. Even sadder, nobody ever goes back and edits it or replies and was like "you know what, i was probably wrong". They feel comfortable moving on and doing it again.
- blibble 4y ago
  > a 100% good way of letting the user know that someone else has control of their settings ah, so it should also be displayed if it's set to Google's preferences they're "someone else" as equally as Debian
  - dymk 4y ago
    Debian just didn’t adjust the defaults correctly.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
jonas21 4y ago
No, it's a Debian bug. If you read the thread linked in the comment you replied to [1], the Debian folks added a JSON file to `/etc/chromium/policies/managed` when they should have edited `/etc/chromium/master_preferences` (a different JSON file). If they had done that, there would be no message. Everyone on the thread agrees that's a better solution. [1] https://bugs.debian.org/956012 https://bugs.debian.org/956012

Reporting that there is a policy is no bug, but maybe there should be a way to signify that it's customized by your software vendor (i.e. signed and keys are compiled in) and that it just sets the default search engine. Chromium does change the message to "This device is managed by <google workspaces domain>" if attached to Chrome Enterprise.

brnt 4y ago
Being "managed by" and loading a policy config do not equate in meaning, unless we let PR departments redefine words. Moreover, defaulting to Google is also a policy.
- sascha_sl 4y ago
  The intent behind policy loading in Chrome is to allow an MDM to configure the browser, not for distros to not write a real patch.
  - brnt 4y ago
    Perhaps. Describing loading a custom policy with "managed by" is still incorrect and potentially misleading.
- kccqzy 4y ago
  The policy config is designed for enterprises, not software distributors. It's Debian that's taking an unnecessary shortcut here. They could've patched the source code to change the default search engine.

yunohn 4y ago

Preconfigured profiles are the right way to solve this, it’s just that the message could be worded more kindly.

nightpool 4y ago
No, preconfigured profiles are not the right way to solve this, as the message clearly indicates, pre-configured profiles are designed to be managed by the owner of the computer, not the software distributor. The right way to solve this would be to change the built-in default that applies before any profile is processed. This also would allow any other profile to override it if they wanted. EDIT: Apparently the Debian team agrees: https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=956012#72 https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=956012#72

unknownaccount 4y ago

The only bug here is the changing of the search engine to a sketchy website without user input or consent.

DannyBee 4y ago

Uh, no? This is managed policy, and this is a 100% good way of letting the user know that someone else has control of their settings Just because Debian thinks that they are doing the right thing, they are in fact, controlling the user's settings through a policy It's just telling you that, as it should. The notion that it has anything to do with keeping search the default or not is like, such a silly assumption i don't know where to begin. The feature overall came from a desire of enterprises to manage browser settings. Back then, Google was one of the first to tell you someone was doing that to you so that you knew your organization could see and control your settings. IE had a deployment kit that let you deploy managed browser settings, but you didn't get told (this changed, eventually, i think, it's been a while) Letting orgs change the default search engine was an explicit, designed goal, since some wanted to redirect people to their internal searches by default, etc. There is in fact, another way to do this that is easy and doesn't give the user the same warning, and is meant for software distributors You can just use master preferences here for this kind of thing and it is meant for this use case. Google in fact, made this easy and officially supported, despite your claim. It would likely be pretty silly to make this hard - end users aren't using these interfaces or tools, and distributors always know how to change this stuff . As HN as grown in popularity, the sheer number of kneejerk reaction comments has unfortunately kept pace (IE the overall percent has not dropped. Even sadder, nobody ever goes back and edits it or replies and was like "you know what, i was probably wrong". They feel comfortable moving on and doing it again.

blibble 4y ago
> a 100% good way of letting the user know that someone else has control of their settings ah, so it should also be displayed if it's set to Google's preferences they're "someone else" as equally as Debian
- dymk 4y ago
  Debian just didn’t adjust the defaults correctly.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

jonas21 4y ago

No, it's a Debian bug. If you read the thread linked in the comment you replied to [1], the Debian folks added a JSON file to `/etc/chromium/policies/managed` when they should have edited `/etc/chromium/master_preferences` (a different JSON file). If they had done that, there would be no message. Everyone on the thread agrees that's a better solution. [1] https://bugs.debian.org/956012 https://bugs.debian.org/956012