Stealth Firefox updates to cure permissions fatigue

[Simon]

Mozilla is considering "silent" updates for its Firefox browser in a bid to prevent update fatigue among users.

With a six-week upgrade cycle in its browser, Mozilla said it wanted to take the annoyance out of updating the software by preventing Windows from always asking for permission for new versions.

"The rapid release process has some very positive side effects, like delivering new web technologies faster, and attracting world class developers who like to see their code ship fast," said Brian Bondy, lead developer on the project, in a blog post. "But rapid releases also have some negative side effects."

"One of the negative side effects is that minor annoyances with software updates suddenly become much more noticeable," Bondy said. "Most users don't want to think about software updates nor version numbers, and now they are being forced to do so every six weeks."

Read more: http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/370375/stealth-firefox-updates-to-cure-permissions-fatigue

[Rik]

I don't like the idea of this at all.

[Simon]

Seems it's just removing the notifications.  It auto updates anyway, doesn't it?

[JB]

I don't like the idea of this at all.

Nor do I because it will stop some of the add-ons from working.

If they adopt this method without a user opt out I will be moving to another browser.

[zappaDPJ]

This could be a disaster for anyone like me that uses Firefox as a development tool. There has to be an opt out.

[.Griff.]

Seems it's just removing the notifications.  It auto updates anyway, doesn't it?

Mine doesn't auto-update. It just keeps nagging me to update to 7.01 and gives me the option to accept the update or ignore it. As one of my plugins doesn't support 7.01 yet I keep ignoring the notification.

[Simon]

There's obviously an option not to auto update then.  I don't use it very often, so mine usually updates as soon as I start it!

[.Griff.]

If it's an incremental update then you can use the option above to select your preference but if it's a major update, e.g from FF6 to FF7, then it always prompts you for permission regardless of what you selected in FF options.

[Simon]

 

[pctech]

A nightmare to support.