Posted on 07/18/2005 8:45:23 PM PDT by N3WBI3
The open-source Firefox browser and Thunderbird e-mail client will be updated for the second time in a week because of code changes that have unintentionally stopped some third-party extensions from functioning correctly.
The updates will take Firefox and Thunderbird to version 1.0.6, while the Mozilla Suite will be updated to version 1.7.10, wrote representatives from the Mozilla Foundation on the group's developer news blog. Mozilla oversees the software's development.
It appears security fixes in last week's 1.0.5 update caused the problems.
"There is a very real chance that some of the general security improvements in last week's 1.0.5 update may impact a number of extensions that worked with 1.0.4 and earlier, and we want to identify and address as many of these as possible before we release 1.0.6," the representatives said.
Because of the impending update, the Mozilla Foundation has asked developers to temporarily halt work on localizing the software for non-English language markets, a move that has drawn criticism from some adherents.
"We are getting lots of e-mails from Firefox users in Poland asking us about why isn't Firefox 1.0.5 available in Polish," wrote one developer in the localization newsgroup.
"A few days more, and it's gonna be a big public relations disaster for Firefox outside the U.S.A.," the developer added.
Another developer attacked the foundation in its bug-reporting forum.
"Tens of millions of users are still using 1.0.4 while critical security bugs are already published after en-US (U.S. English) 1.0.5 release," the developer wrote.
Calling for the foundation to release its software in all supported languages simultaneously, the developer said that by delaying the foreign language versions, Mozilla was wasting the work done by developers promoting the foundation's brands in local markets.
Test versions of the updated software are available, and the foundation has asked third-party developers to make sure their extensions work. Fighting phishing on foreign shores The swapping plays on HP gears up for layoffs Amazon faces growing pains Online PIs draw privacy complaints Previous Next
"Extensions that interact with Web content and events may be the most susceptible to these changes," the foundation representatives wrote. "Mail-handling extensions such as (secure e-mail extension) Enigmail for Thunderbird and the Mozilla Suite should also be tested heavily."
A Mozilla Foundation representative was not immediately available to comment on the changes.
Renai LeMay of ZDNet Australia reported from Sydney
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Does anyone know if this is why Fedora has not released its update for 1.0.4 yet?
How can this be. I've only heard that big bad M$ makes such stupid mistakes. Is firefox Open Source? It must not be Open Source because Open Source NEVER makes such a failure.
Give me Open Source as it never has bugs or security holes and it always easily patches. Is that a contradiction in that statement? oh well. Long live Open Source and down with the evil vile M$.
{/sarcasm}
You get what you pay for.
Well, at least it isn't like some OS's / applications where mistakes seem to force the original release even BEFORE a fix.
Full Disclosure: It was promised that the Gates of Hell would not prevail against the Church. It remains to be seen if the "Hell of Gates" will prevail against the forces of open-source. ;-)
I have a right to joke about this. I've been writing assembler for 25 years. I've earned it.
They're good if they are competing in one of those obfuscation contests.
I am still using 1.0.4. Did not realize there was a new release. I won't upgrade. It is annoying to have to upgrade every couple months and lose access to extensions for a few days.
Why does the open source logo look like a cat-eye tube?
Yuck on euphamisms.
Misstep = Mistake
The 1.0.x series doesn't change the browser's internal version number, so all extensions written for 1.0 are compatible with all 1.0.x versions.
Now, if you download the alphas of Firefox 1.1, your extensions won't work, because its internal version is 1.0+, due to be upgraded to 1.1 for the final release.
Yep. XP is worth the $5.00 I paid for it.
"How can this be. I've only heard that big bad M$ makes such stupid mistakes. Is firefox Open Source? It must not be Open Source because Open Source NEVER makes such a failure."
"Give me Open Source as it never has bugs or security holes and it always easily patches. Is that a contradiction in that statement? oh well. Long live Open Source and down with the evil vile M$."
No... there's a giant strawman lurking in it, however.
I'll stick with my Firefox, thank you very much. I can't remember the last time MS released an error, found it, *admitted to it*, and corrected it within a week.
Why would they release an error?
I am now getting slammed with spyware in Firefox. Thank goodness Spybot is catching it.
Why would they release an error?
Ever hear of Windows ME?
Good point.
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