1340403 - Update MDN with latest compatibility milestones

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Developer Documentation Graveyard :: Add-ons, defect)

Description

[Amy Tsay [:amyt]]

Please update https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Template:LegacyAddonsNotice and any other affected pages with the latest compatibility milestones outlined here: https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2017/02/16/the-road-to-firefox-57-compatibility-milestones/

Notably:
- Fx53:
   - e10s will be enabled for everyone except people using add-ons marked mpc=false
   - Add-ons will only be able to load binaries using the Native Messaging API
   - No new legacy add-ons will be accepted on addons.mozilla.org (AMO)
- Fx54: Sandboxing
- Fx 55: Multiple content processes
- Fx 57:
   - WebExtensions will be the only supported extension
   - e10s compatibility shims will be removed

Comment 1

[Amy Tsay [:amyt]]

Compat milestones updated: https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2017/03/27/update-compatibility-milestones/

- Firefox won’t run in multiprocess mode unless all enabled add-ons have the multiprocessCompatible flag set to true or are WebExtensions. 
- The multiprocess compatibility shims will be removed earlier, starting with the Nightly and Developer Edition channels.

Comment 2

[Will Bamberg [:wbamberg]]

How does this seem: 

***

Add-ons using the techniques described in this document are considered a legacy technology in Firefox.

Don't use these techniques to develop new add-ons. Use WebExtensions instead.

If you maintain an add-on which uses the techniques described here, consider migrating it to use WebExtensions instead.

<strong>From Firefox 53 onwards, no new legacy add-ons will be accepted on addons.mozilla.org (AMO).</strong>

<strong>From Firefox 57 onwards, WebExtensions will be the only supported extension type, and Firefox will not load other types.</strong>

Additionally, changes coming up in the Firefox platform will break many legacy extensions. These changes include multiprocess Firefox (e10s), sandboxing, and multiple content processes. Legacy extensions that are affected by these changes should migrate to WebExtensions if they can. See the <a>"Compatibility Milestones" document</a> for more.

A wiki page containing resources, migration paths, office hours, and more, is available to help developers transition to the new technologies.

***

?

I'd be happier if the "Compatibility Milestones" was a page in wiki.mozilla.org, rather than a blog post.

Comment 3

[Amy Tsay [:amyt]]

Thanks Will!

- You say that from Firefox 57 onwards, WebExtensions are the only supported extension type. Then, changes coming up will break legacy extensions. Do you mean changes coming up before 57, or after? People might ask what you mean on timing because these two sentences are kind of saying the same thing but from different angles.

- I agree it's not ideal to link to a blog post, but I want to avoid maintaining two copies of the same info.

Comment 4

[Will Bamberg [:wbamberg]]

That's a good point. How about:

"Even before Firefox 57, changes coming up in the platform will break many legacy extensions. These changes include multiprocess Firefox (e10s), sandboxing, and multiple content processes. Legacy extensions that are affected by these changes should migrate to WebExtensions if they can. See the <a>"Compatibility Milestones" document</a> for more."

? I guess the point of this paragraph is that even before Firefox 57, you can't guarantee your extension will continue to work.

Comment 5

[Amy Tsay [:amyt]]

Yep, this edit makes sense!

Comment 6

[Will Bamberg [:wbamberg]]

I've opened a PR to update the macro: https://github.com/mozilla/kumascript/pull/146

Comment 7

[Will Bamberg [:wbamberg]]

The PR is merged and deployed, and I've refreshed all the pages I could find that embed this macro.