1655845 - Collect OS version information in telemetry

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Firefox Build System :: General, enhancement)

Description

[Mitchell Hentges [:mhentges] 🦀]

To help inform our decision on supported python versions, it would be helpful to know what OSes developers are using. With that information, we can see the minimum/maximum Python versions that are convenient/possible to install (e.g. via package manager).

Useful information here will be:

• OS version (either explicit version, or a build number for the long-lasting Windows 10)
  • Note: not all OSes will have versions, such as rolling-release linux distros (rawhide, arch)
• Distro name (linux)

Comment 1

[Mitchell Hentges [:mhentges] 🦀]

Attachment: data-review-1655845

Comment 2

[Mitchell Hentges [:mhentges] 🦀]

Note: Glean does collect an os_version value already:

• For Linux, it's the kernel version, such as 5.4.0-47-generic
• For Windows, it's the "product number", such as 10
• For Mac, it's the Darwin version, such as 19.6.0

This os_version isn't quite useful for us, since we'll want to know:

• Which specific Linux distro name and version you're running, which could explain dependency issues (e.g.: debian patches some libraries)
• The Windows version isn't specific enough (would prefer build number, IMHO)
• The Mac version (such as 10.13.6) is more useful for knowing what software it's compatible with and what known issues it has.

Comment 3

[Teon Brooks [:teon]]

Comment on attachment 9168601 [details]
data-review-1655845

DATA COLLECTION REVIEW RESPONSE:

Is there or will there be documentation that describes the schema for the ultimate data set available publicly, complete and accurate?

Yes. This collection is Telemetry so is documented in its metrics.md file metrics.md.

Is there a control mechanism that allows the user to turn the data collection on and off?

Yes. This collection is Telemetry so can be controlled through Firefox's Preferences.

If the request is for permanent data collection, is there someone who will monitor the data over time?

Yes, :mhentges is responsible.

Using the category system of data types on the Mozilla wiki, what collection type of data do the requested measurements fall under?

Category 1, Technical.

Is the data collection request for default-on or default-off?

Default on for all channels.

Does the instrumentation include the addition of any new identifiers?

No.

Is the data collection covered by the existing Firefox privacy notice?

Yes.

Does there need to be a check-in in the future to determine whether to renew the data?

No. This collection is permanent.

---

Result: datareview+

Comment 4

[Ricky Stewart]

Stealing this bug.

Comment 5

[Ricky Stewart]

Attachment: Bug 1655845 - Collect OS version information in `mach` telemetry

We add new metrics distro and distro_version. Their meaning varies based on the actual OS:

1. For Linux, the pair will be the name of the distribution and the distribution's version (e.g. ubuntu/20.04);

2. for macOS, the pair will be the string macos and the macOS version (e.g. 10.15.7); and

3. for Windows, the pair will be the string (windows, MAJOR.MINOR.BUILD);

4. and for all other OS'es, the first will be the value of sys.platform, and the version string will be empty.

Comment 6

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/integration/autoland/rev/6df2f1d27ab1
Collect OS version information in `mach` telemetry r=firefox-build-system-reviewers,dmajor

Comment 7

[Cosmin Sabou [:CosminS]]

https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/rev/6df2f1d27ab1