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I used to be able to check out my `ntpd` config file and see where my system was getting it's time. Now on Bookworm I cannot find it. I suppose that's some Syst

I used to be able to check out my `ntpd` config file and see where my system was getting it's time. Now on Bookworm I cannot find it. I suppose that's some Systemd service but I have not easily determined which one. My point was going to be that I don't ever recall seeing a mention of this WRT privacy and Debian (or any other distro) collecting statistics on usage. The Debian installs that used `ntpd` used to default to a pool of Debian NTP servers. It seems to me that would provide a way of determining how many installs were active, at least the ones using the default server. In my case I changed them to use my pfSense firewall which got time from somewhere else. This 'privacy leak' is probably on the order of the information revealed by APT queries. I'd have to do a little more digging to determine where Bookworm is getting time by default.

saint_yossarian 4y ago
Probably via `systemd-timesyncd`, run `timedatectl timesync-status` to see the used server (still the same Debian pool by default). You can change this in /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf
- HankB99 4y ago
  That's what I see in my desktop running Bullseye. And it lists the servers #FallbackNTP=0.debian.pool.ntp.org 1.debian.pool.ntp.org 2.debian.pool.ntp.org 3.debian.pool.ntp.org I suppose according to the other reply these are not operated by Debian but include their their name.
jeroenhd 4y ago
Your NTP client is probably systemd-timesyncd if you're using the systemd NTP client: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/systemd-timesyncd https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/systemd-timesyncd It'll use either the server you (or your distro) configures in the config, the NTP server provisioned by your network configuration, or the fallback servers in the source code. Debian ships systemd with a config file that has their servers pre-filled, but commented out, free for you to use. The systemd source says they use the Google NTP pool by default as a hard coded fallback, though Debian may have altered that. I think the Debian project assumes that you're okay with communicating to Debian in some fashions if you choose to use their software. After all, if you run their code at the highest privilege, you're already putting a lot of trust in them.
zajio1am 4y ago
> The Debian installs that used `ntpd` used to default to a pool of Debian NTP servers. I think they are not technically Debian NTP servers, they are from a general public pool of NTP servers. But when such pool is used by vendors, there is a requirement to use separate subdomain: https://www.ntppool.org/en/vendors.html https://www.ntppool.org/en/vendors.html
- HankB99 4y ago
  That's interesting. Then Debian is not getting the information I thought.
yrro 4y ago
> The Debian installs that used `ntpd` used to default to a pool of Debian NTP servers. It seems to me that would provide a way of determining how many installs were active, at least the ones using the default server It would not be legal for Debian to do this without your informed consent.

saint_yossarian 4y ago

Probably via `systemd-timesyncd`, run `timedatectl timesync-status` to see the used server (still the same Debian pool by default). You can change this in /etc/systemd/timesyncd.conf

HankB99 4y ago
That's what I see in my desktop running Bullseye. And it lists the servers #FallbackNTP=0.debian.pool.ntp.org 1.debian.pool.ntp.org 2.debian.pool.ntp.org 3.debian.pool.ntp.org I suppose according to the other reply these are not operated by Debian but include their their name.

jeroenhd 4y ago

Your NTP client is probably systemd-timesyncd if you're using the systemd NTP client: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/systemd-timesyncd https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/systemd-timesyncd It'll use either the server you (or your distro) configures in the config, the NTP server provisioned by your network configuration, or the fallback servers in the source code. Debian ships systemd with a config file that has their servers pre-filled, but commented out, free for you to use. The systemd source says they use the Google NTP pool by default as a hard coded fallback, though Debian may have altered that. I think the Debian project assumes that you're okay with communicating to Debian in some fashions if you choose to use their software. After all, if you run their code at the highest privilege, you're already putting a lot of trust in them.

zajio1am 4y ago

> The Debian installs that used `ntpd` used to default to a pool of Debian NTP servers. I think they are not technically Debian NTP servers, they are from a general public pool of NTP servers. But when such pool is used by vendors, there is a requirement to use separate subdomain: https://www.ntppool.org/en/vendors.html https://www.ntppool.org/en/vendors.html

HankB99 4y ago
That's interesting. Then Debian is not getting the information I thought.

yrro 4y ago

> The Debian installs that used `ntpd` used to default to a pool of Debian NTP servers. It seems to me that would provide a way of determining how many installs were active, at least the ones using the default server It would not be legal for Debian to do this without your informed consent.