1564885 - Update policy breaks my environment

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(Firefox :: Enterprise Policies, defect)

Description

[mlg]

User Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:68.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/68.0

Steps to reproduce:

"Update Harassment"

My environment is not just a browser, but a browser plus a set of plugins.
After the browser upgrades, plugins do not work anymore. I have to invest time in fixing the issue. If there is no plugin for the new version yet, I have to downgrade.
Firefox is installed on a disk with almost no free space. After an attempt to automatically upgrade the browser fails, the browser does not work anymore, no old version and no new version.
When I select "Check for updates but let you choose to install them", the browser harasses me with its window asking for update; the worst thing is that the keyboard shortcut to open a new window (private?) does not work.
I found the way to disable the updates somewhere in the config file; unfortunately, after I did a manual update, the problem of update harassment reappeared, and I had to repeat the forum search about the problem that I already solved some time ago.

I use Firefox on Linux (Ubuntu: Precise and Trusty). The notebook that uses Precise is old and has just enough disk space to run without upgrades. Any attempt to give my notebook more disk space would mean re-installation of all software that I have there; I am not willing to do that just because of a browser.

Actual results:

The automatic upgrade policy interferes with the normal work:

1. plugins become outdated
2. installation breaks because of lack of free disk space to perform the next upgrade
3. the window about upgrades opens too often
4. when the window about upgrades is open, keyboard shortcuts do not work
   The system (browser+plugins) may break at any moment and I will have to spend hours trying to fix it.
5. there is no evident way to disable automatic updates, the feature is hidden in config files. One has to search forums to find out how to do that.

In fact, the update policy behaves as if it wants to say: "Throw away your computer with all your software and data, and buy a new one: Firefox needs to upgrade!" This is very unkind.

Expected results:

The automatic upgrade policy does not interfere with the normal work.

1. The user must be able to disallow upgrades that make plugins dysfunctional.
2. Upgrades must not happen if they require more disk space than is there.
3. The user must be able to specify how often he will be shown the upgrade window, or at least be able to choose not to be harassed in the next 3 days.
4. All keyboard shortcuts must work in the same way regardless of whether or not the window about upgrades is shown (especially "New Window" and "New Private Window"). That is, the "updates ready" window must not redefine any existing keyboard shortcuts.
5. The information about how to switch off updates should be there on the preferences page.

Comment 1

[Andre Klapper]

Thanks for reporting this!

After the browser upgrades, plugins do not work anymore. I have to invest time in fixing the issue. If there is no plugin for the new version yet, I have to downgrade.

This statement is not specific enough that anyone could do anything. Do all of your plugins not work anymore after every browser upgrade? Plugin maintainters were warned (see e.g. https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2018/08/21/timeline-for-disabling-legacy-firefox-add-ons/ ) for the last big change. If there are specific plugins which do not work for specific Firefox versions, feel free to file bug reports about those plugins in the place where bug reports for those plugins are handled.

Firefox is installed on a disk with almost no free space. After an attempt to automatically upgrade the browser fails, the browser does not work anymore, no old version and no new version.

That happens with any bigger application. That the problem is not Firefox specific and cannot be solved in Firefox.

When I select "Check for updates but let you choose to install them", the browser harasses me with its window asking for update; the worst thing is that the keyboard shortcut to open a new window (private?) does not work.

That is because you chose to check for updates, so you get notified of updates. If keyboard shortcuts collide, then please file a separate bug report with clear steps to reproduce. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/QA/Bug_writing_guidelines

I found the way to disable the updates somewhere in the config file; unfortunately, after I did a manual update, the problem of update harassment reappeared, and I had to repeat the forum search about the problem that I already solved some time ago.

If preferences get overwritten, then please file a separate bug report with clear steps to reproduce. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/QA/Bug_writing_guidelines

I use Firefox on Linux (Ubuntu: Precise and Trusty).

It is your free choice which operating system to use. Both Ubuntu Precise and Ubuntu Trusty do not receive updates by Ubuntu anymore. They are insecure and unsupported operating systems, so you are on your own to take the risks and limitations.

The user must be able to disallow upgrades that make plugins dysfunctional.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-stop-firefox-making-automatic-connections explains how you can disable automatic updates to make your systems even more unsecure than they already are (see above).

Upgrades must not happen if they require more disk space than is there.

That should be already the case as https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1323395 is resolved. If the problem still happens with Firefox 54 or newer then please follow https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/QA/Bug_writing_guidelines and file a specific bug report with clear steps to reproduce and data.

The user must be able to specify how often he will be shown the upgrade window, or at least be able to choose not to be harassed in the next 3 days.

Feel free to file a specific feature / enhancement request by following https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/QA/Bug_writing_guidelines

All keyboard shortcuts must work in the same way regardless of whether or not the window about upgrades is shown (especially "New Window" and "New Private Window"). That is, the "updates ready" window must not redefine any existing keyboard shortcuts.

If keyboard shortcuts collide, then please file a separate bug report with clear steps to reproduce. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/QA/Bug_writing_guidelines

The information about how to switch off updates should be there on the preferences page.

It should not as it is an intended decision to keep users safe by not using unsupported software. Anyone can use the Firefox Support to find out how to switch off updates.

Closing this ticket as invalid as it covers several issues which need to be handled as separate tasks (one issue per task). See my comments above. Thanks for your understanding.