Tracker3 core dumps on FreeBSD with GNOME.
If you have a FreeBSD desktop computer with GNOME, or similar open source desktop computer, you might have noticed random Tracker3 core dumps on the file system.
$ find . -name '*.core'
./bin/tracker3.core
./projects/tracker3.core
You might also have noticed messages about Tracker3 error, exit and core dumps in your system logs.
$ dmesg
pid 2416 (tracker3), jid 0, uid 1001: exited on signal 10 (no core dump - other error)
pid 2451 (tracker3), jid 0, uid 1001: exited on signal 10 (no core dump - other error)
pid 2848 (tracker3), jid 0, uid 1001: exited on signal 10 (core dumped)
What is Tracker3?
A first approach to learning, what Tracker3 is, would be to open its manual page. Unfortunately, as often seen with utilities like this, they do not include a manual by default.
$ man tracker3
No manual entry for "tracker3"
A search for “tracker3 official website” on search engines does not give a clean answer. The utility seems to not have a website nor a coding home listed on search engines. Again, a sign of poor coding and project management skills.
Thanks to Freshports, more about the utility can be learned. Here, it is described as a system utility, that index and harvest meta data for GNOME utilities, such as the file management utility Nautilus. A rather useless feature, in my oppinion. Also, it might scan files across partitions, which could be privacy issue in a professional environment.
It does not come with a manual by default. However, according to FreeBSD Manual Pages, there are no known manual for it.
===> The following configuration options are available for tracker3-3.5.3_3:
DOCS=on: Build and/or install documentation
MAN=off: Install manual pages
It is a dependency of Nautilus, which does not have an option for disabling this.
Remove Tracker3 from GNOME on FreeBSD?
If a system utility, that index and harvest the file system for filenames and metadata in the background, is not needed or unwanted, it might be a logic approach, that Tracker3 is removed with the package manager. However, as seen in the output, it does not seem, that GNOME wanted that to be an option.
# pkg remove tracker3
Checking integrity... done (0 conflicting)
Deinstallation has been requested for the following 7 packages (of 0 packages in the universe):
Installed packages to be REMOVED:
evince: 43.1_11
gnome-lite: 42_5
gnome-terminal: 3.44.2_3
gnome-tweaks: 40.10_4
nautilus: 42.2_3
sushi: 42.0_5
tracker3: 3.5.3_3
Number of packages to be removed: 7
The operation will free 38 MiB.
Proceed with deinstalling packages? [y/N]:
Is Tracker3 in GNOME a privacy concern?
Tracker3 is deeply embedded in GNOME. Tracker3 comes enabled without consent from the user. It is a forced installation, that comes with no clear information, warning nor documentation. It is difficult or impossible to disable or deinstall. It scans file systems and partitions. It stores metadata from files, that has been downloaded temporary. It stores metadata for files, that has been deleted. It stores metadata in internal database and hidden files. This is not a philosophy, that fits well with open source and FreeBSD. Tracker3 is a serious privacy concern.
Solution?
Switch from GNOME to XFCE?
I am working on this.
References.
- Tracker3 on Freshports.
- TSPARQL.
- TinySPARQL on GNOME.
- Desktop Search on Wikipedia.