[kio-extras] [Bug 443806] Dolphin should allow option to cache thumbnails for separate encrypted devices / locations

[flan_suse]

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=443806

--- Comment #31 from flan_suse <windows2linux at zoho.com> ---
(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #27)
> This isn't about home directories (which experience no issues, as you point
> out) but rather other encrypted volumes, such as Plasma Vaults and encrypted
> external disks.

This bug report and the entire discussion has always been about external drives
/ locations. As was my latest comment.

If the user's home is encrypted, everything else is moot: *always* store
thumbnails in the standard cache directory

I have to repeat this again:

If the user's home is encrypted, everything else is moot: *always* store
thumbnails in the standard cache directory

There is no "problem to solve". The user's home is encrypted. (Currently, KDE
does not behave in this way, and hence the user complaints and this bug
report.)


What if the user's home is *not* encrypted AND the files live on an external
drive / location that *IS* encrypted?

There should be an *option* to continue with the normal standard: store
thumbnails in the standard cache directory

It's that simple. There are many reasons why someone would want to continue to
store their thumbnails locally, even if their home is not encrypted. (It is
*THEIR* computer, after all. They have full access and rights. Let's not try to
subject them to some out-of-scope security hand-holding if they happen to
encrypt their USB drives.)


The lists I include in my comments are important and have real-world
consequences based on being longtime a KDE user.

1. STANDARDS: Don't randomly break from standards. Other DEs use this home
cache directory

2. PERFORMANCE: The user's home almost always lives on a much faster device
(NVMe, SSD)

3. PERFORMANCE: Ejecting an external USB flushes the buffers from RAM;
meanwhile the home drive is still snappier with buffers in RAM

4. CONSISTENCY: KDE is not aware of encrypted network shares or SED-encrypted
drives. Any "protection" for files on an external USB drive will not apply to
encrypted files from a network share or SED external drive.

5. WORKFLOW: Writing and updating thumbnails to external drives will change the
"last modified time" on the individual folders if the thumbnails are stored
folder-by-folder. (This can ruin certain tasks and workflows.) (I understand #5
might not apply.)


I humbly ask that we don't start writing and updating thumbnails to external
drives. (Currently we do not, so we should offer the user an option if they
understand the risks involved if their home is not encrypted.)


Scenario A: Home encrypted = *Always* store thumbnails in the standard cache
directory

Scenario B: Home *not* encrypted = Default to *NOT* storing thumbnails from
encrypted external locations, but offer the user an *OPTION* if they understand
the risks.

What about Plasma Vaults? Sure, since they are KDE-specific, you can have them
store thumbnails within the container itself. But please don't conflate Plasma
Vaults with standard universal solutions like LUKS and network shares.


Done. Simple.

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