Discuss Joomla! 3.9.27

[pe7er]

Here you can discuss about the release of Joomla 3.9.27

See Announcement: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=986590

[ribo]

The update progress was without issue and it is much faster from the previous versions update. Thank you joomla team!

[JAVesey]

Thank you to all involved in this update; all went smoothly

Off to read about FLoC...

[Webdongle]

Update appeared to stall at 84%. Closed the browser and logged in with a different browser and site claimed to be 3.9.27. Reinstalled core files just in case.

[sozzled]

@JAVesey: read https://developer.joomla.org/news/855-j ... -floc.html

[AMurray]

Two of three sites - update had no issues.

Third site, the 'live update' didn't work but using the update package through Upload and Update worked after the third attempt.

[jgress-]

44 sites done only one issue but it was stupid siteground and I fixed it so all good. Thanks everyone!

[sozzled]

What a load of FLoC! In case people don't read the fine-print in the information note that is added with J! 3.9.27, I reproduce it here:

A new technology is currently being rolled out to browsers to replace third party tracking cookies. This technology is named Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) and you can read more about it here and here. Starting with Joomla! 3.9.27 your website blocks this technology, you can re-allow it from the Global Configuration. Additionally to disable this technology for all requests to your server, you have to update your .htaccess.

That's what it says, word for word.

J! 3.9.27 blocks FLoC by default but you can re-enable it by going to Global Configuration » Site » Site Settings » Block FLoC = No

You can also see how to disable or enable FLoC by by examining the contents of the updated htaccess.txt.

[FakeMoth]

I will just leave this here https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/03/g ... rible-idea if one does not read the post install messages.

Upgrades went smooth BTW.

[Webdongle]

@sozzled
But that's good,yes?

[sozzled]

I'm not sure what you meant by "that's good", @Webdongle. I'm only saying that from a mechanical perspective updating to J! 3.9.27 works. I have no idea what are the consequences to my business as a result of the update. I'm still testing things—very carefully, very patiently—and not making any other comments at this time. The only other observation I would make (and I make this observation with all due respect to the people who invested their time into J! 3.9.27) is that decision about FLoC was controversial and objections were raised whether it made against the spirit of open source or perceived as a political gambit. I say no more than that.

Your question is difficult to answer. J! 3.9.27 implements a mechanism to enable or disable FLoC. That's just a fact. The decision was made to disable FLoC by default. I don't know what is the effect of disabling FLoC or how that affects people who use J!

Drupal has taken a similar approach about FLoC; WordPress has not.

Most people wouldn't know about FLoC. I'm one of them. I don't know how it affects me; there's no simple explanation that says, in a few words, what may happen to my website—to my business—if I allow FLoC or disallow it. I can't say whether "that's good".

[Webdongle]

But for those that know about it they have an opportunity to use it
Those who don't know about it won't have it thrust upon them.
Freedom of choice is good yes?
Just like the choice of sending data after Joomla is installed.

[sozzled]

Freedom of choice is good ... but there are good choices and bad choices. I have no idea whether it's a good choice or a bad choice to disable FLoC. Those who don't know the impact of the default choice—thrust upon them—may be unaware of the consequences of the way that things have been organised. That's all I can say.

I really don't know anything more about this. As for the choice of "phoning home" [sending data after J! is installed], the implications of this are well publicised; it's not a fair comparison.

[Webdongle]

Defaulting to No is not any different to not adding it in the first place. Therefore default to No is not forcing anything on anyone.

But adding it with a default of Yes would be forcing it on Joomla users. So a default of No to an additional feature is (in the main) the logical and desirable setting.

[sozzled]

So a default of No to an additional feature is (in the main) the logical .. setting.

I agree but that's not how this has been implemented. I can't say if it's the desirable setting; I don't know what is the desirable setting because I don't know what effect this setting has on my website/business.

In life, "no" is the default option. "Will you give me $10,000 ... ?" Y'know? No, of course I won't give you $10,000 unless you tell me what's in it for me.

[Webdongle]

The default No on the new feature should have no affect on your website. The default No means the feature is not active just as it was not active when it was not a feature.
i.e. Default No means the feature does nothing.
Unless of course default No means part of the feature still works.

Addendum
Or are you saying that default No is stopping something that was previously happening?

But if most of the browsers are stopping it anyway then doesn't that make the new feature mostly redundant?

[sozzled]

This is what we know about FLoC and J! 3.9.27:

The default setting is Global Configuration » Site » Site Settings » Block FLoC = Yes

That's all we know. I don't know how it affects J! 3.x websites created before the update was released (where this feature was not implemented). That's all I can say. I'm still testing things to see if there was any impact.

[FakeMoth]

Nothing controversial for me here - default to block it is the right choice, and doing otherwise would mean that Joomla! is not Joomla! anymore and totally in a different boat than I am; and jumping the boats I will, no matter the hurdle and the regrets.

2020-2021 has thrown enough garbage at users to worry about weird choices of my CMS: CentOS, elasticsearch, pfSense and just found out about Graylog, others were screwed by Sentry so on. And don't get me started on the hardware industry locking IoTs and forcing all those "cloud" and "app" switches, routers, ACs, solar systems, CCTVs etc on us.

Some sort of hunger for revenue streams no matter the consequences. And ads are the tip of the spear in that regard.

[Webdongle]

This is what we know about FLoC and J! 3.9.27:

The default setting is Global Configuration » Site » Site Settings » Block FLoC = Yes
...

opps made some typos
Have reported my posts

Typos
"Defaulting to No" should be "Defaulting to Yes"
and
"Defaulting to Yes" should be "Defaulting to No"

Hope I have got it correct way around this time.

Sorry @all dosed up on pain killers.

[illovo]

"But if most of the browsers are stopping it anyway then doesn't that make the new feature mostly redundant?"

Nobody knows how Chrome browser will handle this at the end of the day. At the moment there is no OptIn for this "feature". That's (just) one point (of many) why many people reacted "nervous".

Means: You can protect visitors of your Joomla page from getting "floced" when they visit your page with Chrome and others where it's not clear yet how they will handle Floc. That's all.

If you want a guaranteed total protection for all content in webspace you have to activate the line in .htaccess. The configuration setting can only work if the content is displayed by Joomla system (PHP rendering and so on).

BTW: There is meanwhile a DuckDuckGo browser AddOn also for Chrome that blocks FLOC.

[Fan33GR]

3 sites updated from 3.9.26 to 3.9.27 fast and with no issues.
Thanks Joomla! team!!!

[gilplane]

More than 10 updates websites OK. J 3.9.26 > 3.9.27 . Configuration : Yootheme warp 7 , JCE, Widegetkit...PHP 7.3
A big Thanks Joomla team for all this work !

[leolam]

Yootheme warp 7

Just a reminder. Support for Warp 7 has seized to exist at Yootheme since January and Warp 7 will never be compatible with Joomla 4 so better start rebuilding sites with Yootheme Pro or Rockettheme Gantry 5

Leo

[sozzled]

AFAICT, the update to J! 3.9.27 has not affected any of my websites and I can't see any difference—either beneficial or detrimental to them—as a consequence of the FLoC settings. I've spent most of the week using a variety of different browsers but I haven't encountered any issues.

My opinions about FLoC are neutral. I'm confused by the online commentary about it. In addition to the information provided in the announcement, I also offer this independent assessment: https://www.akeeba.com/support/admin-to ... ml#p194426

[gilplane]

Yootheme warp 7

Just a reminder. Support for Warp 7 has seized to exist at Yootheme since January and Warp 7 will never be compatible with Joomla 4 so better start rebuilding sites with Yootheme Pro or Rockettheme Gantry 5

Leo

Yes Leo, Thanks . Discussion about that here viewtopic.php?f=708&t=986645
Regards

[leolam]

Most people wouldn't know about FLoC. I'm one of them. I don't know how it affects me; there's no simple explanation that says, in a few words, what may happen to my website—to my business—if I allow FLoC or disallow it. I can't say whether "that's good".

I am with you Michael .....Akakadabra for me at present but think I have to get the knowledge to be able to answer possible client requests for info and advice...

Leo

[pe7er]

An article that explains Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) and its privacy implications:
"What the FLoC?!" by Scott Helme
https://scotthelme.co.uk/what-the-floc/

[sozzled]

Let's try to clear up some of the mystery around FLoC.

First of all, it's browser-specific; it's an experiment at the moment affecting 0.5% of users in selected regions, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the United States. You can check if you are part of that experiment by going to https://amifloced.org/.

Basically, that's what all of this is about. If you're someone using a browser and you're in the FLoC target group and you visit a website that has opted out of FLoC then your visit won't be "recorded"; that's my understanding of Scott Helmes' article.

[Webdongle]

FLoc, what next? Putting someone in gaol for a crime that an algorithm predicts?

There are extensions for chrome that block FLoC