2051729 - [meta] Align Early Beta flags with Nightly given usage

Status: NEW

(Firefox :: General, task, P2)

Description

[Julia Gibbs (:jgibbs)]

Mozilla is retiring the distinction between the "early" and "late" Beta periods (Beta cycle weeks 1–2 and weeks 3–4, respectively). As a result, uses of the EARLY_BETA_OR_EARLIER preprocessor macro need to be reviewed to ensure they continue to gate functionality appropriately.

This meta bug tracks the work to audit and update all uses of EARLY_BETA_OR_EARLIER across the codebase.

Required work

Audit each use of EARLY_BETA_OR_EARLIER and update it as appropriate:

• Replace with NIGHTLY_BUILD if the functionality is ready for QA and user testing but is not yet ready for release.
• Replace with (NIGHTLY_BUILD || MOZ_DEV_EDITION) if the functionality needs additional testing beyond Nightly but is not ready for release.
  -Note: Enabling functionality in DevEdition but not Beta complicates testing. Consider whether—and when—the feature is expected to ship.
• Remove the guard entirely (enable by default) if the functionality is ready to ride the trains to Release.

Timeline

Deadline: August 17, when Nightly 155 merges to Beta.

Beginning with Beta 155, EARLY_BETA_OR_EARLIER will be redefined as NIGHTLY_BUILD.

If a use of EARLY_BETA_OR_EARLIER is not audited, it is not expected to cause build or runtime failures. However, the behavior will change: functionality that was previously enabled during early Beta will no longer be enabled in Beta 155+, because EARLY_BETA_OR_EARLIER will be defined as NIGHTLY_BUILD.

At a later date, EARLY_BETA_OR_EARLIER will be removed entirely by replacing any remaining uses with NIGHTLY_BUILD.

Definition of done

• All uses of EARLY_BETA_OR_EARLIER have been reviewed.
• Appropriate follow-up bugs have landed or been filed where needed.
• This meta bug blocks or depends on all work required to complete the migration.

Comment 1

[BugBot [:suhaib / :marco]]

The Bugbug bot thinks this bug should belong to the 'Firefox for Android::General' component, and is moving the bug to that component. Please correct in case you think the bot is wrong.