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Firefox 49 Postponed One Week Due To Unexpected Bugs (softpedia.com) 208

An anonymous Slashdot reader quotes Softpedia: Mozilla has announced this week that it is delaying the release of Firefox 49 for one week to address two unexpected bugs. Firefox 49, which was set for release on Tuesday, September 13, will now launch the following Tuesday, on September 20... Firefox 49 is an important release in Mozilla's grand scheme of things when it comes to Firefox. This is the version when Mozilla will finish multi-process support rollout (a.k.a. e10s, or Electrolysis), and the version when Firefox launches the new WebExtensions API that replaces the old Add-ons API, making Firefox compatible with Chromium extensions.
Firefox's release manager explained the delays as "two blocking issues and the need for a bit more time to evaluate the results of their fixes/backouts" -- one of which apparently involves opening Giphy GIFS on Twitter.
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Firefox 49 Postponed One Week Due To Unexpected Bugs

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  • Compared to what? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Mal-2 ( 675116 ) on Monday September 12, 2016 @03:59AM (#52869371) Homepage Journal

    Aren't all bugs more or less "unexpected"? If you expected them, you'd check for them and hopefully squash them before they are committed.

    I think the more appropriate word here might have been "blocking". They're severe enough to delay a release over.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Aren't all bugs more or less "unexpected"?

      You don't use Windows much, do you?

    • No, working in QA and going back and forth with devs and business analysts I often get overruled because devs claims this or that "cannot be done". Fact is, they are just too lazy and the BAs don't want to deal with it either...until a customer complaints about exactly that, then it is top priority and a fix is put in place within ten minutes. Those are bugs that at least from the QA side are indeed expected...and totally avoidable if folks would do their job and do it right the first time.
      • Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • No, working in QA and going back and forth with devs and business analysts I often get overruled because devs claims this or that "cannot be done". Fact is, they are just too lazy and the BAs don't want to deal with it either...until a customer complaints about exactly that, then it is top priority and a fix is put in place within ten minutes.

        That they are just too lazy is one possibility, but I've worked with a lot of devs in my career, and I haven't met many who work that way. Some more likely explanations are:

        1. It can't be done without either massive work or an ugly hack that the devs expect will bite them on the butt later.
        2. It can't be done without hugely complicating other, in-progress work.
        3. It can't be done without creating large problems for other teams (e.g. it creates a potential for a doubling of server workload in pathologica

  • WebExtensions API (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Dracos ( 107777 ) on Monday September 12, 2016 @04:03AM (#52869379)

    The Chromification of Firefox continues.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      so long firefox, and all those wonderful addons.... sure a few good ones may make the transition, but rip all the rest. noscript is one in particular that is having a hell of a time working with e10s.

      the last thing firefox needs is the complete SHIT that is chrome addons.. there is so much crap and bogus scammy shit in the chrome 'store' for addons... it's nearly enough to make a guy run straight into the familiar and comforting arms of internet explorer 6

    • Re:WebExtensions API (Score:4, Interesting)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Monday September 12, 2016 @04:53AM (#52869463) Homepage Journal

      It's not a bad thing really.

      The old extensions API needs to go. It's single threaded and can't handle per tab processes well. It's also a massive security problem, having no security model. Extensions can easily conflict too.

      So they could have made a brand new API, but no one would have made extensions for it. At least new devs only have to write their extension once too.

      I see no real down side. They can add some FF specific stuff.

      • Re:WebExtensions API (Score:5, Informative)

        by Artem S. Tashkinov ( 764309 ) on Monday September 12, 2016 @06:02AM (#52869553) Homepage

        It's also a massive security problem, having no security model.

        LMAO. Pretty much all Chrome extensions require access to "all websites" and your "entire browser history" which means they can gather all your browser information, including keystrokes, aka passwords.

        So much security, my ass.

        • Re:WebExtensions API (Score:5, Informative)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Monday September 12, 2016 @07:31AM (#52869687) Homepage Journal

          Are least Chrome HAS a permission system. That's only part of it though. Chrome extensions run in a sandbox. Firefox extensions run in the main browser process and can patch in to pretty much any of the UI and core features.

          Also, you exaggerate, most of the extensions I use don't need access to all sites, and the ones that do are justified (e.g. uBlock and Privacy Badger).

          • If you turn e10s on (which will be the default in FF 49), then the extensions are sandboxed.
            • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

              Sure, but many don't work because much of the API is unavailable. And by API I mean they can't patch random stuff any more.

      • by _xeno_ ( 155264 )

        I see no real down side.

        Really?

        "Hey, you know that one differentiating feature we had between ourselves and Chrome, the extensions that are available for Firefox that just aren't really possible in the Chrome extension model? Let's get rid of those."
        "So we'll just basically be a crappy version of Chrome that uses more memory, is less stable, and is slower?"
        "Yeah!"
        "Sounds like a great idea! Let's do that!"

        The only reason anyone is still using Firefox instead of Chrome is to get access to Firefox extensions. Once Firefox makes their

    • by Artem S. Tashkinov ( 764309 ) on Monday September 12, 2016 @05:23AM (#52869527) Homepage

      Yeah, this update kills thousands thousands of add ons, whiles many others will stop working properly.

      Next on their agenda is killing XUL off which means Firefox will become yet another Google Chrome with a tad better cache management.

      It looks like Google Chrome, it acts like Google Chrome, it is Google Chrome. Now tell me, what the reason for Firefox existence? Once a unique web browser with unique add-ons (NoScipt, Firebug, DownThemAll, etc), soon only a shadow of itself.

      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward

        forget 'the year of linux'.. 2016 might just be 'the year of pale moon [palemoon.org]'.. IF (and this is probably a really, really big 'if') they can manage the code and updates and security all by themselves while firefox diverges too far to be a useful upstream. perhaps even to the point of hosting their own addon site as mozilla's addon site goes to hell (err, i mean gets chromified). seamonkey is still around too, and that may see an uptick in users as well. and don't count on firefox esr, even mozilla's own site sham

        • perhaps even to the point of hosting their own addon site as mozilla's addon site goes to hell (err, i mean gets chromified).

          Just yesterday, I turned on a computer that I have not used for 4 years. I fired up Firefox and clicked update. It went from version 14 to version 43. I then had to update it again because 43 is not the latest. Needless to say, the really cool theme that I had on it was not compatible and had no update so I went looking for other themes that could work.

          Wow, I could not really find any themes like I used to be able to. I did manage to see three themes while scrolling through dozens of pages. It seems like th

      • It's not Google Chrome: It doesn't send any of your data to Google. It's not controlled by a huge corporation. It has its own rendering engine which is a plus in my book. Diversity of web rendering engines is what makes web standards relevant. Get every browser to use WebKit and WebKit is the standard which is the same situation as when IE 6 was king.
      • It looks like Google Chrome, it acts like Google Chrome, it is Google Chrome. Now tell me, what the reason for Firefox existence?

        SCROLLING. TAB. BAR.

  • Allow me to respond in a way you can appreciate. [giphy.com]

  • by sciengin ( 4278027 ) on Monday September 12, 2016 @06:06AM (#52869567)

    - UI still made some people not throw up
    - Slowness not increased by 50% as promised by the dev team, some pages unfortunately still load as fast as in the times of ISDN
    - Critically low use of memory: Some memory is still not used up by Firefox despite our best efforts
    - Android port does not crash often enough
    - Not quite like Chrome yet

    • by rossdee ( 243626 )

      You missed
                        some add-ons/plug-ins still work

    • by Luthair ( 847766 )
      • minimal UI is better than old UI
      • Firefox is generally competitive on speed
      • Firefox has lowest memory usage of all browsers
      • Android port never crashes for me on Nexus devices /shrug
      • You mean it isn't bloated and doesn't use a lot of memory like Chrome?
        • minimal UI is better than old UI
        • Firefox is generally competitive on speed
        • Firefox has lowest memory usage of all browsers
        • Android port never crashes for me on Nexus devices /shrug
        • You mean it isn't bloated and doesn't use a lot of memory like Chrome?

        1. Absolutely not: The old UI presented orders of magnitude more functionality to the user

        2. define competitive. I notice that every update makes it slower compared to the previous one

        3. Thats not saying much, too much memory is too much memory, regardless of how much the others use

        4. For me its multiple times a day, on my Samsung NotePro 12.3 (it was the flagship device in early 2014, I doubt it has become this bad in less than 2 years). Unfortunately FF is the only browser that allows uBlock origin and so

        • To enable 90% of what's missing from the older UI
          1. Right-click somewhere like the bookmark buttons, plus button, download arrow or sandwich made of one slice of bread between two slices of bread
          2. Click on "Menu Bar"

        • 1. Australis enables you to have the Old-UI. Australis enables you to have a dozen extension toolbars if you want them. Australis enables you to specify *exactly* how you want the UI to appear. [postimg.org]
          2. Your opinion? FF definitely uses less memory now (V49) than it did for V30+.
          3. Memory use as needed. Firefox is the only browser that can open hundred(s) of tabs like Opera used to - but even classic Opera can't do that any longer as it chokes on modern image sizes.
          4. No Comment, I use Opera on Android, when I
  • This is a good thing (Score:4, Interesting)

    by trawg ( 308495 ) on Monday September 12, 2016 @06:49AM (#52869635) Homepage

    I've never been a fan of the regular release schedule of Firefox (or software in general). Releasing a new version just for the sake of having a new version every three months seems like a way to just make sure you're introducing potential new issues in your software (... lo and behold I think that's what we see with Firefox more and more, rather than the introduction of great new features).

    I understand the motivation though - it's nice to have targets to keep everyone working for those little milestones, and have a date attached to it so things can be roadmapped and planned and all that.

    I don't think it's at all a big deal for a date to slip on a particular version - especially as we're getting into actual serious-change Firefox territory with this release. The Electrolysis stuff is the first major advancement (... that I've cared about) for something like 20 versions so I'm keen to make sure it's stable.

    As an anecdote, the current version of Firefox is the first one that I've EVER noticed it feeling sluggish and like it is using too much memory. I know Firefox has a weird reputation has a memory hog but I have personally NEVER noticed this despite it being my sole browser for years. As of right now it's using 1.9GB whereas before this I don't recall it getting significantly above the low 1GB range (FWIW I have Electrolosys disabled by config).

    I don't really care that much about the memory usage but it certainly feels a little more sluggish than usual, which I do care about. So I'm very happy for them to take their time with the v49 release and make sure it's all ship-shape before it lands.

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • I believe it has to do with what sites you browse, especially those that use tons of Javascript.

      I've had the memory hogging issues since Firefox 2.0, resulting in massive pauses that last for 2-10 seconds at a time, and they've driven me crazy. They are all related to the Javascript heap and garbage collection cycles. Image-heavy sites that use JS tend to build up the most garbage. I can navigate my own web site all day, but even 5 minutes on DeviantArt will reduce Firefox to a whimpering crawl, using 1.

      • It's stupid to go to such lengths, but ugprading to 8GB RAM and a 64bit OS works well. (4GB + 64bit or 32bit with Firefox e10s is not bad either)
        I don't know why, but I have a firefox instance running at 3.2GB real memory here, and 4.7GB virtual memory. It's fine i.e. today is a lucky day.

        [It's still possible to find ddr2 memory to upgrade, in fact I guess most people that would be inclined to make such an upgrade don't care about ddr2 systems anymore and thus don't drive the prices up.]
        Although, if it's th

        • Despite having 16GB in this Windows 7 desktop machine that I built a year and a half ago, Firefox becomes much less usable when it exceeds about 1.2GB Working Set (as displayed by Task Manager processes). Right now as I'm typing this it shows 1.43GB Working Set memory and 1.33 Commit Size and seems to be operating smoothly enough with 2 FF windows open, one window with 2 tabs and the other with 8 tabs running moderate and lightweight stuff.

          But if I do anything requiring heavy lifting like watching a bunch o

    • by Luthair ( 847766 )
      The incremental delivery really leads to the major features being broken up into a bunch of tiny stuff that we don't notice. If you think about Chrome also, what was the last major change they launched, personally I can't remember anything there either.
    • I've never been a fan of the regular release schedule of Firefox (or software in general).

      I'm a huge fan of regular release schedules

      Releasing a new version just for the sake of having a new version every three months seems like a way to just make sure you're introducing potential new issues in your software

      Quite the opposite. Delaying release until you have some significant new "release-worthy" features leads to "big bang" releases that require endless testing because there is so much new code in them. It makes it hard to get something out the door, ever, and means you need a separate cycle of frequent bugfix releases, with corresponding management of separate dev and release trees (separate trees are good, but allowing them to become very different is not). Worst of

      • by trawg ( 308495 )

        All good points! I guess when I said 'software in general' I really meant 'desktop software', not really web-based stuff. I certainly prefer regular updates in web-based stuff so completely agree.

    • If you've enabled Electrolysis (e10s), take a look in about:config for "dom.ipc.processCount". I saw a recommendation for a setting of dom.ipc.processCount = 10. It's possible FF uses more memory than without that setting, but its much more stable and responsive overall.
  • by LichtSpektren ( 4201985 ) on Monday September 12, 2016 @09:11AM (#52869969)
    I was a pretty harsh critic of the 'personalized ads', but Mozilla removed that, so now Firefox is back to being the best browser. Its performance is slightly shy of Chromium in my experience, but it has better features, customizability and a selection of add-ons.

    Anyway, what I'm taking from the comments on this article is that Mozilla really shouldn't read Slashdot, because most commenters here hold that Mozilla really cannot do anything right. I'm sure Firefox would've been heavily criticized if a major release was too buggy, so it seems to be the right course of action to delay its release, but they're getting shit for that too. Oh well. Some people are just unpleasable and can be safely ignored for that reason.
    • Anyway, what I'm taking from the comments on this article is that Mozilla really shouldn't read Slashdot, because most commenters here hold that Mozilla really cannot do anything right.

      Any time that there are multiple people commenting about something, you will get mutually exclusive comments. If you read the comments without involving your ego, you can get some extremely useful insight into what is going wrong with your development.

      I argue that the Firefox team SHOULD read the comments. Perhaps then they would start giving more control to the end user. Same with Gnome. Open Source software should give all control to the user without the user having to rewrite the source code.

      • Your post is somewhat contradictory, don't you think? First you talk about the mutually exclusive diversity of opinion, then you suggest that the Firefox team should listen to one monolithic "the end user" as if they form a collective.
    • Anyway, what I'm taking from the comments on this article is that Mozilla really shouldn't read Slashdot, because most commenters here hold that Mozilla really cannot do anything right.

      I was a huge fan of Firefox from 2.0 right up to the 4.0 release. But even 4.0 and on was tolerable because they'd always let you turn off the annoying stuff they added.

      Somewhere along the way in the last year or two when they started removing the ability to disable stuff from about:config was when I really knew the Firefox I loved was gone.

  • Isn't a bug pretty much by definition unexpected?

  • When they found out about the bugs, didn't they become expected bugs? So it's totally shippable.

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