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Allow disabling of self updates at build time #499

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AtmosphericIgnition opened this issue Oct 14, 2024 · 0 comments
Open

Allow disabling of self updates at build time #499

AtmosphericIgnition opened this issue Oct 14, 2024 · 0 comments

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@AtmosphericIgnition
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Most Linux software does not update itself, but is expected to be updated by the system's package manager. There is currently no build-time option to disable the ability of Proton-Bridge to update itself. Because on most Linux systems, dependencies are dynamically linked, Proton-Bridge doing a self update usually results in:

  1. Update fails to install
  2. Update breaks the Proton-Bridge installation, requiring a reinstall, and occasionally also a purge of all its files.

Since self update files are not guaranteed to be built against the versions of dependencies available on the user's system, a self update can (and regularly does) break my installation. In a better scenario, the Proton-Bridge binary might not have the sufficient permissions to update it's own executable, and the update just errors out. Even when I disable automatic updates, Proton-Bridge still regularly bothers me to install every update. In the past, I have also accidentally clicked the "update now" option and broke my install.

Expected Behavior

There should be a build-time option to disable self updates, or at least tell a new installation that automatic updates, and prompts associated with them should be disabled by default.

Current Behavior

There is no build time option to disable self updates, or configure Proton-Bridge not to run automatic updates by default.

Possible Solution

Regular updates are important for stability and security, but the current self-update system does not work on every Linux distribution, and risks breaking the user's Proton-bridge installation. Because of this, I believe, there should be a build-time option available to completely disable self-updates, and all prompts associated with them.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Install Proton-Bridge on any Linux distribution that packages it's own Proton-Bridge package (I tested on Arch Linux).
  2. Wait for an update to become available.
  3. Install the update when Proton-Bridge prompts you to.
  4. See the update fail, or break the installation because of dependency mismatch or insufficient permissions.

Version Information

Any version of Proton-Bridge for Linux.

Context (Environment)

I have tried to get work done, only to find out I suddenly can't use Thunderbird with ProtonMail because Proton Bridge updated itself, and now requires a complete reinstallation, and sometimes, the deletion of every file Proton-Bridge created on my system. This is an annoying, time consuming, and all other Linux software that has self update capabilities outside Linux (Firefox, Chrome, Signal Desktop, Thunderbird, Element, IntelliJ, VSCode) disables self updates on Linux by default, or offers the option to do so at build time.

Possible Implementation

Add a build flag which disables self-updates capabilities, like make build-noselfupdate
In my opinion, this flag should be enabled by default when targeting a Linux build, but having this option is more important than bike-shedding what the default should be.

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