198726 - "Don't ask again" makes Mozilla always use the last chosen profile (should provide default profile)

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Toolkit :: Startup and Profile System, defect)

Description

[Christian :Biesinger (don't email me, ping me on IRC)]

When I enable the "Don't ask again" checkbox in Profile Manager, Mozilla will
always use the last selected profile.

I would expect that it will always launch with the profile that I chose when I
clicked "Don't ask again".

As it is implemented now, it is useless, because if I once run Mozilla with
another profile (using -P), _that_ profile will be used in the future by mozilla.

(cc'ing jan and ccarlen because I think at least one of them was involved in
creating this feature)

Comment 1

[Conrad Carlen (not reading bugmail)]

Here's how I use it, and find it very useful:

I have several profiles, but there is one of them that I use 90% of the time.
Because of that, it's annoying to see the profile manager every time I launch.
So,  I use "Don't Ask at Startup" and I'm happy. Since you can switch profiles
at any time, or the state of "Don't Ask at Startup" by using Tools->Switch
Profile, there's no reason to see the profile manager at startup if you don't
want to (I don't, you can decide for yourself). If you can suggest a better name
for the checkbox, go ahead. 

Comment 2

[Christian :Biesinger (don't email me, ping me on IRC)]

>I have several profiles, but there is one of them that I use 90% of the time.

Same for me. But there are cases when I start with another profile, and that one
I rather not remember...

ok, well, a better name may be "Always start with last used profile"?

Comment 3

[ratman]

"don't ask again" should establish a default profile, not simply disable the
profile manager on startup.  ideally, there should be two options - one for
"disable the profile manager" and one for "establish this as the default
profile".  the former would automatically launch the last used profile, whereas
the latter would always launch the selected default profile unless the "-P"
command line argument is used.  one way or another, "don't ask aagin" is far too
vague.

Comment 4

[domi]

same with thunderbird
see bug: Bug 314764

Comment 5

[domi]

same with thunderbird
see bug: Bug 314764

Comment 6

[Boris 'pi' Piwinger]

*** Bug 329422 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 8

[Maaren]

Attachment: Proposal new profile manager

A proposal of a new Profile manager in an other style.
Forgot the password for now, it is something I would like to see for later, in stead of the master password.

But the new things are the 'standard profile' and the 'shift option'.
A user can choose if he want to use them.
The option 'Tools->Switch profile' doesn't exist anymore, and it is better than to start every time with the option -profilemanager.

'Weave online' is the online synchronization project of Mozilla Labs,
when pressing 'Weave online' you have the option to:
1) create an profile on this computer with an existing weave-profile,
2) download a weave profile to use only one time on this computer,
This doesn't exist for now, but was already mentioned for the future.

-------

Further,
This bug is not for SeaMonkey only, who knows how to set it for Firefox and Thunderbird? (I don't know yet - this is my first post)

Thanks.

Comment 9

[Benjamin Smedberg]

As filed, we're not going to fix this (removing the profile manager instead).

Comment 10

[chAlx]

The bug should be Reopened.

> we're not going to fix this

It is not so clear without the correct bug in dependencies. Which is the one -- bug 540194 which is still opened or another?

There are no solution yet for painless migration to the new profile manager. And there is a difference in using SeaMonkey or Firefox+Thunderbird profiles (e.g. new profile in SM means no direct access to the old mail). So the solutions for at least these two forks may differ.

Thus the "old" widely used PM have to be maintained until all questions with new PMs will be resolved. And this bug should be fixed by separating mechanisms for choosing active profile when starting without PM and for open / not open PM on startup. Default != last.