493919 - Remove or update obsolete default settings in existing-profile-defaults.js

Status: RESOLVED WONTFIX

(Firefox :: Search, defect)

Description

[dynamis (Tomoya ASAI)]

In short:
I think we should remove existing-profile-defaults.js file from user profile directory to keep their defualt config up-to-date and same as all other users.
If some contract between us and Google/Yahoo prevent to do it, we need update values wihtin the file. We should care about them.


Long Details:
We have changed/updated search engine order, feed reader url etc with major update (not only us but for example ro locale will also change default engine to Yandex with Fx 3.5).
But as Atsushi and Kohei wrote in bug 396536, existing-profile-defaults.js file was introduced in Bug 364297 for Firefox 2.0.0.2 to keep their old default engines etc.

All users have new default values but only those users who had used Fx 2.0.0.1 and updated to 2.0.0.2 have existing-profile-defaults.js in their profile directory and they still use the old obsolete search engine order, feed reader url, keyword urls.

obsolete default configs in existing-profile-defaults.js:
http://bonsai-l10n.mozilla.org/cvsblame.cgi?file=l10n/ja/browser/existing-profile-defaults.js&rev=1.1.2.1&root=/l10n
current default configs:
http://hg.mozilla.org/releases/l10n-mozilla-1.9.1/ja/file/tip/browser/chrome/browser-region/region.properties

Today enough long time passed from Fx 2 release and as far as we see forums etc, users tend to feel strange (and complain) when they find their default settings are not same as others or new profile.
I think we should not keep really old configs *forever*. Users default config should be updated properly as all other case do. As we change default configs with major update, we should remove obsolete default configs in existing-profile-defaults.js (remove the file).

Anyway, at least feed url must be updated as we did in bug 396536 and other engine order etc should also be updated.
I'm not sure we have to keep their default engine because of the contract between us and Google/Yahoo. If the contract require it, we should update existing-profile-defaults.js to keep only the Google/Yahoo order (remove other configs to use normal default configs defined in region.properties).
# As far as I know we will not keep default engine as Google when ro loclae change it to Yandex.
# I'm curious about why only CJKT users keep old configs.

If we'll update (not remove) the file, we should keep in mind that existing-profile-defaults.js is locale dependent. That is, if a user made existing-profile-defaults.js with ko locale and now using with ja locale, he have ko locale existing-profile-defaults.js and we maybe should not replace it with ja existing-profile-defaults.js.
We should check the file contents or just replace locale dependent values. For example, to update our feed url, we can replace "http://www.google.co.jp/ig/add?feedurl=%s" with "http://www.google.com/reader/view/feed/%s" since google.co.jp is exists only in ja (and ja-JP-mac) one.

To avoid complex situation and confusion of users, I believe it's best just to remove existing-profile-defaults.js.

Axel: if you're not the person who should accept this, assign to other person.

Comment 1

[Axel Hecht [:Pike]]

The comments in bug 380429 are most helpful.

I don't think that we'd be able to do this just for ja, so CCing the rest of CJKT, which I think are the only affected locales.

Reading through bug 380429, should we kill the existing-profile-defaults.js logic completely? It seems to me that that never worked like it should in the first place.

Regarding the actual decision of removing the file, I'd love to get a little bit more insight if CJKT's Yahoo -> Google was really the only time we used this. Seth is gonna figure that out.

Moving this bug over to Firefox Search, as that is where bug 380429 was.

Comment 2

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

(In reply to comment #1)
> Regarding the actual decision of removing the file, I'd love to get a little
> bit more insight if CJKT's Yahoo -> Google was really the only time we used
> this. Seth is gonna figure that out.

It is, as far as I know.

We can probably remove most of the logic (though we probably need to keep the preferences observer-service hack to allow reloading defaults that that patch added).

Comment 3

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

(Though we should probably file a followup on that.)

Regarding the removal of already-installed existing-profile-defaults.js in profiles, I think doing it for 3.5 is reasonable.

Comment 4

[dynamis (Tomoya ASAI)]

Any progress about this?
We need to wait response from other locales?
Maybe none refuse about this and could you prepare patch?

Comment 5

[Tim Guan-tin Chien [:timdream] (please needinfo)]

(In reply to comment #4)
> Any progress about this?
> We need to wait response from other locales?
> Maybe none refuse about this and could you prepare patch?

I think zh-TW would be fine about this.
In fact, Fx 3.5 QA reports that http://zh-tw.start.mozilla.com/ has a strange "1" on it...

Comment 6

[:Gavin Sharp [email: [e-mail]]]

Bug 703377 and bug 504953 removed the remnants of the patch for bug 364297, but didn't actually remove the code in the directory provider (https://hg.mozilla.org/mozilla-central/annotate/d01dd42e654b/toolkit/xre/nsXREDirProvider.cpp#l749) that would cause the pref service to read an existing-profile-defaults.js in the user's profile, if the user happened to have run an ancient build with the code that copied it there.

Since this only affects zh-CN/zh-TW/ja/ja-JP-mac/ko users who ran Firefox 2.0.0.2 or 2.0.0.3, I don't think we need to worry about it.