[tor-bugs] #24113 [Core Tor/Tor]: We stop trying to download an md after 8 failed tries

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#24113: We stop trying to download an md after 8 failed tries
-----------------------------------------------+---------------------------
 Reporter:  asn                                |          Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect                             |         Status:  new
 Priority:  Medium                             |      Milestone:  Tor:
                                               |  0.3.2.x-final
Component:  Core Tor/Tor                       |        Version:  Tor:
                                               |  0.3.0.6
 Severity:  Normal                             |     Resolution:
 Keywords:  tor-guard, tor-bridge, tor-client  |  Actual Points:
Parent ID:  #21969                             |         Points:
 Reviewer:                                     |        Sponsor:
-----------------------------------------------+---------------------------

Comment (by asn):

 Replying to [comment:5 teor]:
 > We can only remove the retry limit if we are sure exponential backoff
 works.
 > (There is still a global retry limit of 255 for every individual
 directory document.)
 >

 Hm. Are you saying that there is a chance that exponential backoff doesn't
 work?

 > Why not work out the actual number of retries we need, and increase it
 to that?
 >
 > (I would guess that we shouldn't retry a single md more than 16 or 20
 times, but that's just a guess.)
 >

 Is there actually a number of retries that guarantees to give us mds? I
 don't think so, especially when you consider edge-cases like
 comment:1:ticket:23863.

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Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/24113#comment:6>
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