Good day to all!
I'm interested in the question, what is the reason for the refusal of the x32 version of Firefox ESR?
The browser is already going through hard times, because of the not very clear and not popular decisions of the developers ... But you are there too.
For myself, I found a way out, figured out how to make Firefox ESR Portable x32 from your assembly.
So, here comes the second question. Why are there settings in your assembly that have not been supported by Mozilla for a long time?
There is a DefaultData folder in the assembly in which there are settings files and they are copied to the Data folder during scripted installation from FirefoxPortableU.nsi. So these files contain deprecated information!
For example:
update-config.json contains the line
{'app.update.auto':false}
Which does NOT work in Firefox ESR 102!
I suspect that
SubmitCrashReport=0
from the FirefoxPortableSettings.ini file is also useless.
Further. The App\DefaultData\profile\prefs.js file also contains deprecated settings:
user_pref('app.update.auto', false);
user_pref('browser.privacySegmentation.createdShortcut', true);
user_pref('network.cookie.prefsMigrated', true).
Based on these settings, portable Firefox should have auto-update disabled by default. And it, starting from the 'bearded' times, works anyway!
Currently, auto-update is disabled only by the DisableAppUpdate rule in the \App\Firefox\distribution\policies.json policy file. See here: GitHub.com
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Firefox ESR Portable x32 - why not?
March 19, 2023 - 7:15am
#1
Firefox ESR Portable x32 - why not?
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Did some digging:
The
network.cookie.prefsMigratedcharacter set has been around since Firefox ESR 52.9.And then, somewhere between Firefox ESR 60.9.0 and Firefox 68.12, it ceased to exist.
I don't want to loop through every browser version, but the fact is that this setting is deprecated and shouldn't be in your prefs.js file!
Firefox ESR Portable is designed for organizations and developers to test extensions and sites for organizations. It's not meant for end users. Hardly anyone uses it, so it was switched to our base language set of 12 languages instead of 39 and to 64-bit only. If you're still using 32-bit Windows, please use Firefox Portable Stable. Firefox and Thunderbird take a long time to build and I'm the only one building them, so ESR, Beta, Dev, and Nightly were switched to a smaller build (base language set and 64-bit only) to take less time. That plus the fact that they are not used much either.
The deprecated settings in the default profile are ignored by modern Firefox and cause no issues being there, so you can safely ignore them as well.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Dear John T. Haller!
Thanks for the reply.
You see, sometimes some tools, when used inappropriately, are more useful than usual. For me, this tool is your Firefox ESR Portable. And thank you for this work. There are still a lot of weak and outdated computers in my environment. And the stability and flexibility of setting IMHO is more in the ESR version of the browser than the one you call 'Stable'
As I wrote above, I made a 32-bit ESR assembly almost on my own. The first time it took half a day - to figure out and understand what went where and why. Now, if you have your assembly x64, x32, I will do it in 20 minutes - download your assembly, download the official distribution, unpack and copy. And that's it!
That's what I mean. Of course, against the background of the total number of programs you support-20 minutes yes for each program-this is already a noticeable period of time. BUT! It may be better to pay less attention to Beta, Dev, and Nightly. IMHO-these builds are certainly not for a wide range of users, but rather for stubborn geeks. There the number of languages can be further reduced)))
And outdated settings in your configuration files - it's like guests came to you, and you have mountains of unwashed dishes in the sink. So to speak - the underside is rather unsightly.
Dear John,
No serious complaints about your work. I am not a programmer at all, and only circumstances forced me to delve into this assembly, and the FF configuration in general. I can't do more than that. The years take their toll. I hope that despite your fatigue, at least the x64 Firefox ESR will continue to live.
Best regards!
We don't have plans to expand the current ESR offering. The English version generally has under 200 users worldwide. Some other languages of the small set we do have under 10. ESR simply doesn't have much interest as there's not much reason to run it portably. So, the time to build (packaging and upload time over a home internet connection) is not worth it vs where that limited time can be spent elsewhere.
I would suggest using stable, which runs parallel to ESR on a staged basis as ESR is just old stable with an additional security patch timeline for organizations that need to test and verify each feature update. You're free to remake a 32-bit version yourself for personal use. Stable will continue to have both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. And I release legacy packages with both 32-bit and 64-bit as each ESR version is archived: https://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable/legacy
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
Hello @Grizzled, I am interested in the 32-bit ESR too. Can you please point me or provide some instructions on how you did this yourself? Thanks!
@John T. Haller
Apologies for making my question in this thread instead of opening a new one.
Are you going to release Firefox ESR Portable v102.9.0 or you just stopped assembling ESR?
It's been 6 days since it came out to the public https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/102.9.0/releasenotes/
You can follow along in the outdated apps thread: https://portableapps.com/development/outdated
Apps have been slow the last couple weeks as I have been helping with an ill family member and have been under the weather.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
I'm sorry to read your predicament, I hope the bad weather dissipates soon and your family member overcomes illness.
What is this sourceforge page with paf releases?
It's the first time I see it when I was googling.
https://sourceforge.net/projects/portableapps/files/Mozilla%20Firefox,%2...
The PA.c SourceForge Project Page is our official page on SourceForge. Apps are not considered released and are not supported until publicly posted on PortableApps.com.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
"We don't have plans to expand the current ESR offering."
So, 102.15.0esr (currently .13) will be the final PotrableApps Firefox ESR?
I'm thinking its internal updater might get it to 115.2 in August... Maybe?
Cheers.
It will continue releasing as planned in a 64-bit version as we have been for quite some time. We don't plan to expand the number of languages or go back to 32-bit and 64-bit as it's barely used and is only meant to be used for testing sites and extensions by users at large.
102.13.0 is built and currently mirroring. It will be promoted to 115 when stable goes to 116. Nothing is changing.
Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!
The soon-to-be-depreciated
https://wiki.mozilla.org/index.php?title=Release_Management/Calendar&red...
page reports 102.15 will be the final 102 as does its
https://whattrainisitnow.com/calendar/
replacement page.
The 08/29 final 102.15 is what I'll hang with it until the 11/21 release of 115.5. A fifth dot version is a good "ready for prime time" release IMHO to through to the 115 dot final and wait on 116.5.
Thanks for all the work you do and all the work you've done!
Cheers.