Launcher versions and automatic updates

Playing with things this morning I began to wonder about the automatic updates for Firefox/Thunderbird/etc. and keeping our portable versions current. The auto-update feature keeps the browser/mail reader/etc. current, but the portable versions use a launcher and perhaps other nifty stuff which isn't updated.

The pFirefox support page lists the launcher version number in the revision history which was easily compared to the launcher version number in my install. They matched; the world is good. The pThunderbird support page does not list the revision history for pThunderbird and does not refer to the launcher version at all. I've been letting my pThunderbird install auto-update since before it went gold and now I find that my launcher revision is 1.1.1.3, several revisions behind the current 1.1.4.1 found in a fresh download of the package. </ugly run-on sentence>

Every time these programs autoupdate the forums get frustrated by people asking if the update is ok to accept. It obviously is (it's worked flawlessly for me), but we need to be aware of the other changes to the portable package.

Other quick observations:
- pClamWin AV has a version history that mentions the launcher, but not by revision number.
- pGaim has a version history that references the launcher, but not with respect to the updated launcher included with 2.0 beta 2.
- pVLC lists the launcher version in the "Friendly Launcher" line, but not in the version history.

Maybe it's picky or silly of me to notice. Just some thoughts that have lost focus while typing a long message.

jpe