355406 - Download Manager Tweak extension not available/working for firefox 2

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(Firefox :: Extension Compatibility, defect)

Description

[Pavel Cvrcek [:JasnaPaka]]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9a1) Gecko/20061004 Minefield/3.0a1
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9a1) Gecko/20061004 Minefield/3.0a1

https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/256/


Reproducible: Always

Comment 1

[Steve England [:stevee]]

DownloadManagerTweak 0.7.1 does not work with Firefox 2.0 because it overlays the Tools > Options > Downloads tab with more options and stuff. This tab was removed in the firefox 2.0 pref-panel rewrite, and the downloads options moved to the Main tab. So forcing installing DMT 0.7.1 on firefox 2.0 breaks the pref window. (gray bar with red text in, etc)

I have hacked at DownloadManagerTweak 0.7.1 to make it work with 2.0, and it seems to work fine:
- http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?t=448305
- http://users.blueprintit.co.uk/~dave/filestore/stevee/downloadmgr_072.xpi

However, i am unaware of what steps I should take to get this updated version onto amo, so any help or pointers would be greatfully received.

1) I am not the original author, and he seems uncontactable, so I do not have his express permission to have hacked at his extension. How does this effect my position of hacking at his extension?
2) Apparently there might be a license for DMT 0.7.1 that forbids people to change the extension. Where might I find such licensing restrictions? If no license is present, what can I infer from this?
3) What steps do I have to undertake before submitting this new version to amo? Do I have to update the GUID? Or anything else?
4) I am totally new to hacking at extensions, so are there any other steps (that I am probably currently unaware of) that I should take to get this extension updated and hosted on amo?

Thanks for any feedback.

Comment 2

[Steve England [:stevee]]

For my own edification:

[18:34]	Mossop: stevee: In reply to question 2, unless you can find a license or statement otherwise, the code is copywrited by the original author by default
[18:36]	Mossop: stevee: Since the extension is hosted on mozdev, it must be licensed under the MPL or another open source license. I think you may even be able to speak to mozdev and get them to give you access to the project there

Comment 3

[alanjstr]

Have you tried contacting the original author?  It sounds like we need to downgrade the compatibility on the site.

Comment 4

[Michael Morgan [:morgamic]]

If it doesn't work, it doesn't work -- and it shouldn't say it works either.  I'd say if we can't contact this author, we should probably fix the compat information or update the .xpi so the problems are fixed.

Comment 5

[Frank]

IIRC, this extension was also updated late from 1.0 to 1.5

Comment 6

[Cameron]

Alan, Morgamic: These bugs are about getting developers to update their add-ons to work in Fx2 - there's no mixup with the compatibility on the website - it clearly states that it's only compatible up to fx 1.5.0.*

Steve: Seeing as it's under the MPL, you are quite welcome to change the GUID and submit it as a separate add-on to AMO. You'll need to change the name also (perhaps "Download Manager Tweak II" or similar.)

That's all well and good, but it's not particularly convenient from the users' point of view. Many will see that their add-on doesn't work in Fx 2 and might continue to use Fx 1 5.0.* because of it (very bad) or they might just complain loudly, or whatever. Most of them will not have the thought to search for a maintained fork of the add-on.

So, if you can convince the mozdev people to give you access to the project there, I don't think it would be a problem for us to add you as a co-author on AMO so you can submit your updated version. In that case, you would retain the existing GUID. 

Comment 7

[Antti Tervasmäki]

(In reply to comment #6)

FYI: There seem to be updated version 0.7.2. in The Extensions Mirror:
http://ext.extenzilla.org/downloadmantweak/downloadmgr_0.7.2.xpi

So now there is two 0.7.2 versions??