294644 - Incompatible extensions/themes cannot be installed disabled

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Toolkit :: Add-ons Manager, enhancement)

Description

[Rastignac]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.8) Gecko/20050511 Firefox/1.0.4
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.7.8) Gecko/20050511 Firefox/1.0.4

When one tries to install an obsolete theme/extension (most of the times from
the user's harddisk), an error message blocks this installation. That's a good
point. But the user is now totally blocked.

What can the user do now ? Try to find a newer version of the theme/extension.
How to do it ?
- Extract the ".xpi" content and inspect the ".rdf" file ? A geek will do that,
but an end-user can't do that.
- Search Google for the named extension/theme ? Not so user friendly, and
sometimes you can't find good results.

I think FireFox should be more friendly with its users. FireFox should allow the
user to install the extension/theme anyway but in disabled state. The
extension/theme can't be used at all, but it will be present in the list of
installed themes/extensions and it can be updated via FireFox Update.
So, during installation, FireFox can display a message like "this
extension/theme is obsolete. What do you want to do ?  1) Don't install it at
all.  2) Install it anyway (but it will be disabled and it will stay disabled) 
3) Check for update now and search for a newer version".

Choice 1 will be the same as now.
Choice 2 will allow you to have the extension/theme installed but disabled. So
you can have it in your list and you can automatically check for an update.
Choice 3 will use the ".rdf" from the obsolete theme/extension and check for a
newer version to download and install.

Thanks.

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.
2.
3.

Comment 1

[Rastignac]

Note that:
- Install an old FireFox (let's say 0.9).
- Install an old extension that only works with FireFox 0.9.
- It works.
- Now install FireFox 1.0.4 over the old one.
- The installed extension is now obsolete.
- FireFox didn't delete this old extension. FireFox just disabled the obsolete
extension. FireFox kept it.

So, installation procedure should follow the same idea (don't reject/delete
obsolete extensions; accept them and keep them but disable them).

Thanks.

Comment 2

[Nickolay_Ponomarev]

Note, that if you're online at the time of installation, Firefox checks the
updateURL for [at least] maxVersion bumps before showing the error message.

Comment 3

[Grey Nicholson (they/them)]

(In reply to comment #0)
> So, during installation, FireFox can display a message like "this
> extension/theme is obsolete. What do you want to do ?  1) Don't install it at
> all.  2) Install it anyway (but it will be disabled and it will stay disabled) 
> 3) Check for update now and search for a newer version".
> 
> Choice 1 will be the same as now.
> Choice 2 will allow you to have the extension/theme installed but disabled. So
> you can have it in your list and you can automatically check for an update.
> Choice 3 will use the ".rdf" from the obsolete theme/extension and check for a
> newer version to download and install.

I would amalgamate choices 2 and 3:

After checking unsuccessfully for maxVersion bumps: "This extension/theme is
obsolete" (or words to that effect)
[Check for newer version] [Cancel]

If the former is chosen and a newer version is available, it should be installed
as Firefox Update usually does.

If a newer version is not available: "No new version is available; Firefox will
periodically check for updates as install them when they become available" (or
similar)
[OK] [Cancel]

This would mimic the dialogue that appears when upgrading Firefox itself as
closely as possible.

Comment 4

[Tobias B. Besemer [:BesTo] (QA)]

Hey.
Im testing Deer Park alpha1 and now testing the german erweiterungen.de-page.
To my sorrow I must recognize that I cant test the most extensions until the
devels make them ready for the new Deer Park. This means for me, that I should
bookmark every extension that is not installable and come back soon to check
them again - really annoying ...
Plz help and fix this soon ... Thx

PS: This should be an bug - not an enhancement!

Comment 5

[Robert Strong (they/them - no direct email)]

The way I think this can be implemented is along the lines of item 3 in comment
#0 and there is already an enhancement bug to check for updates to an extension
during install in order to get the latest version. Providing an option to
install it as disabled as well is probably ok.

The original severity of enhancement is appropriate since this works as designed
and this would be an enhancement to the design.

Comment 6

[François Gagné]

Found the enhancement in comments #5 and added as dependancy

Comment 7

[Dave Townsend [:mossop]]

*** Bug 311700 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***

Comment 8

[Robert Strong (they/them - no direct email)]

Choice 1 is how it works now
Choice 2 is bug 258062 
Choice 3 is already enhancement bug 296173

Marking duplicate of bug 296173 though it could be dupe'd to bug 258062

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 296173 ***

Comment 9

[Nickolay_Ponomarev]

Er, no. Choice 2 is not the same as bug 258062, it's something that I'd want
when I'm interested in an extension, but it's currently not compatible with the
Firefox version I use. It is about "Providing an option to install it as
disabled" which you said is "probably ok".

Bug 258062 is wontfixed because we don't want to give users a choice to break
their browser. Installing an incompatible extension as disabled (basically
adding install.rdf metadata) doesn't break the browser, so this is not
automatically wontfixed.

The fact this (i.e. the "choice 2") is not the same as bug 296173 should be obvious.

Comment 10

[Robert Strong (they/them - no direct email)]

Sorry and you are correct. I believe the only valid ennhancement bug in comment
#0 is providing a method to install incompatible extensions / themes in the
disabled state - could have sworn I have seen a couple of bugs for this
previously but they most likely have a non-descriptive summary.

As a workaround you can extract the extension or theme into a properly named
directory and place it in the profiles extensions directory... or run a version
of the app that it is compatible with to install it. Neither are great
workarounds but I also doubt that this is something the average user would need
/ want. Bug 296173 on the other hand is something all users that use extensions
could benefit from.

Comment 11

[Robert Strong (they/them - no direct email)]

Forgot to mention that Nightly Tester Tools provides a method to install
incompatible extensions but not themes -
http://users.blueprintit.co.uk/~dave/web/firefox/buildid/nightly.html . For
testers this makes a lot more sense obviously though it does somewhat defeat
testing in relation to standard use of the Extension Manager. For release builds
this doesn't provide much value for most, adds complexity to the code, and could
create confusion among average users (depending on how it was implemented).

Comment 12

[Tobias B. Besemer [:BesTo] (QA)]

(In reply to comment #11)
> Forgot to mention that Nightly Tester Tools provides a method to install
> incompatible extensions.
It doesnt really work for me. I can activate deactivated extensions, but I cant
install extensions that arent made for this version. Im also dont know if old
versions of extensions will be updated to the newes (incompatible) version and
also dont know if an deativated (course incompatible (bugy)) version will
reativate if an update is available. Maybee I should fill seperate bugs ???

Comment 13

[Robert Strong (they/them - no direct email)]

(In reply to comment #12)
> It doesnt really work for me. I can activate deactivated extensions, but I cant
> install extensions that arent made for this version.
You can ask the author or in the forums about this.

> Im also dont know if old
> versions of extensions will be updated to the newes (incompatible) version and
> also dont know if an deativated (course incompatible (bugy)) version will
> reativate if an update is available. Maybee I should fill seperate bugs ???
When an extension is updated it will be enabled if it was not already disabled
manually by you... as for if an incompatible version - the EM shouldn't install
an update if it is incompatble and I am fairly certain it doesn't. If you can
provide steps that show that it does - as long as it isn't due to another
extension poviding this functionality - then please do file a bug.

Comment 14

[Mike Connor [:mconnor]]

I don't think this adds anything to the user experience we want to provide.  "Install until hopefully someone updates the extension." isn't that useful, except for right around version bumps, but that's an edge case that only matters a few times a year.

Comment 15

[Rastignac]

Updating from 1.0.x to 1.5 was a fiasco. Many extensions and themes took days/weeks/monthes to become compatible/upgraded (only a very few ones were compatible before the FireFox 1.5 final release). During these long days/weeks/monthes, many users lost nearly all their favorite extensions and/or themes. Their FireFox experience was heavily broken ! Some users even downgraded back their Firefox (from 1.5 to 1.0.x) because they needed it. Some users even totally stopped using their FireFox ! Their favortie extensions and themes were broken and there was no way to automatically check them for update ! It took a lot of manual work to search and hunt for upgrades every day for each extensions and themes. What a pain: hours of useless manual task ! FireFox should do this all by itself. That's easy.

Monthes later, many extensions and themes are still not upgraded at all. And there's still no way to automatically check them for updates. One must check manually for each extension and theme, one by one, day after day. What a painfull task. FireFox should help humans, not give them more and more stupid work to perform.

Updating from 1.0.x to 1.5 was a fiasco. Updating from 1.5 to 2.0 will be a bigger fiasco (more users with more extensions). A little enhancement is needed here.

My guess: many users won't jump into the next update (FireFox 2.0). They will wait days/weeks/monthes before upgrading from 1.5, because now they know how painfull the update will be. They know their favorite browser will be heavily broken. They know how many lost hours it represents.

This bug is "resolved/wontfix" ? What a pitty.
I still think it's a "Firefox 2.0 blocker"...

Comment 16

[François Gagné]

I would like to have this bug fixed for some of the reasons of comment 15 but I think some corrections are needed.

-When upgrading from Firefox 1.0 to 1.5 you don't lose your incompatible extensions, they are simply disabled.
-When upgrading from Firefox 1.5 to 2.0 the list of incompatible extensions and themes will be shown so you could decide if you choose to upgrade or not

Comment 17

[Mike Connor [:mconnor]]

This bug can't possibly affect upgrading users, since they already have the extensions installed from 1.0.x and thus don't need to reinstall them in a disabled state, since they will already be disabled.  They still won't be able to enable incompatible extensions.  Given that you filed the bug, I'm surprised that you miscontrued the potential effects of this bug.

Looking forward: If you're upgrading from 1.5 to 2.0, you'll know before you upgrade what extensions won't work, before you upgrade.  We should also have a better setup in place for AMO so that testing doesn't backlog the system.  Some of the responsibility is also on the authors who didn't upgrade their extensions until just before the release, exacerbating the backlog.  Their job will be easier this time around with the relatively stable platform, so they should hopefully be compatible by the first RC.  All of these should have a significant effect on reducing the stress of upgrading.

Comment 18

[Rastignac]

	There are many cases where these problems appear:


1) The popular advice (as written everywhere on the Net) for a "good and clean" installation of FireFox is: uninstall your old 1.0.x, backup your profile, delete your profile, install the new 1.5, and then reinstall themes / extensions / bookmarks / etc. Everyone tells you that a clean installation should avoid many problems, so many users do so, and the advice is still popular.
   But a clean installation blocks you because you can't reinstall all of your extensions. And then you can't check for upgrade for them. You're blocked.


2) You can't install to another computer. Let's say the first computer (at home) has 1.0.x and the second computer (at work) has nothing at all. I want to test 1.5 at work (before upgrading at home), so I install 1.5 from scratch on the second computer. FireFox 1.5 is now installed on the second computer but has no themes and no extensions at all. And now I take all the ".xpi" and ".jar" (saved on my first computer hard disk, or downloaded again from the Net) to install them on the second computer. And nearly nothing installs. I can't really use and test the naked new FireFox 1.5 without my favorite usual extensions and themes. And I can't check them for an update from time to time. So I give up. No 1.5 for me, thanks.


3) Let's say a friend of mine tells me: "you should test the XYZ extension; it's great !". My friend has 1.0.x and the XYZ extension is fine. But I have 1.5 and the XYZ extension is incompatible with 1.5. I really want to test it, but I can't: I must wait. So I wait. I want to check for an update from time to time, but I can't do it automatically. There's no way to know when XYZ will be updated (days ? weeks ? monthes ? never ?), and I can't manually check for an update every day for every extension... So I give up and forget about XYZ and many others great extensions.


4) Let's say I had 1.0.x installed. I didn't uninstall it. I put 1.5 on top of 1.0.x. The installation worked. Many of my extensions are now disabled (because they are incompatible), but I still can check for an update from time to time. New versions are coming one by one. That's fine: I can check and update my obsolete extensions and themes when I want to !
   But my hard disk explodes. Bad luck. I lost everything. All is reinstalled from scratch on a new harddisk. But I can't reinstall my old disabled extensions, and I can't check for an update for them. I miss them. I must give up.


5) I still don't understand why there's a difference between "clean installation" and "upgrade installation". When you upgrade from 1.0.x to 1.5, the obsolete extensions are not deleted; Firefox keeps them; they are disabled but kept. That's useful. So why can't you install an obsolete extension to keep it disabled ? The same principle should be used.

Comment 21

[Tobias B. Besemer [:BesTo] (QA)]

Still would be a nice feature ...

... at the moment I notice good (incompatible) ext an come back and back and back again to see if the will be compatible ... the only work-around is to install - crash FF - deactivate ... annoying !!!

Reopen ???

Comment 22

[Mike Connor [:mconnor]]

No, it's still not a core use case, or useful for enough people to spend the time to make work and maintain.