Public bug reported:
The Firefox package does not act like ordinary packages. When it is
running, it forcibly downloads upgraded binary versions of itself and
then forces the user to restart Firefox and run the new version. There
used to be a Firefox setting by which the user could control this, but
it has been deliberately removed.
This is problematic in many ways. The first way is that it undermines
the user's control over their own environment. The essential element of
free software is that users control it, it does not control them. If
there is behavior that is undesirable, they can fix it, not just be
subjected to the arbitrary decisions of a distant corporation. For
example, some users require that they have a copy of the source code
that matches each binary package they are running. Firefox's covert
upgrades undermine this local user policy, installing binaries that have
no local matching source code. Other users may be using plugins or
other applications that do not work with later versions of Firefox. It
is not Firefox's decision when to upgrade -- it is the user's or system
operator's.
The second problem is that restarting one's browser has many side effects. For
example, if one window or tab is in a video conference, forcing a restart of
Firefox ejects the user from their video conference. If a video or audio file
is merely playing in another window or tab, it is
interrupted and not necessarily resumed after restart in the right place.
Cookies and permissions (e.g. for NoScript) are not carried forward after a
restart, when they are set to persist only for one session.
If the Mozilla Corporation has firmly and permanently decided that it
doesn't believe in the freedom of the end-users of its software, then
Ubuntu should ship a patched version that DOES give its end-users
freedom, by restoring the setting to disable automated updates. Firefox
would continue to be able to be updated by the usual update-manager GUI
(which IS under the control of the user), apt-get, or by the user
explicitly installing new versions via dpkg or by building from source
code.
ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 20.04
Package: firefox 97.0+build2-0ubuntu0.20.04.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.13.0-28.31~20.04.1-generic 5.13.19
Uname: Linux 5.13.0-28-generic x86_64
AddonCompatCheckDisabled: False
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu27.21
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC2: gnu 2520 F.... pulseaudio
/dev/snd/controlC1: gnu 2520 F.... pulseaudio
/dev/snd/controlC0: gnu 2520 F.... pulseaudio
BuildID: 20220202182137
CasperMD5CheckResult: skip
Channel: Unavailable
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Tue Feb 15 22:55:07 2022
ForcedLayersAccel: False
IncompatibleExtensions:
Global Menu Bar integration - globalm...@ubuntu.com
English (South Africa) Language Pack - langpack-en...@firefox.mozilla.org
English (GB) Language Pack - langpack-en...@firefox.mozilla.org
Default - {972ce4c6-7e08-4474-a285-3208198ce6fd}
InstallationDate: Installed on 2020-05-04 (652 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS "Focal Fossa" - Release amd64 (20200423)
IpRoute:
default via 209.16.159.254 dev enp6s0 proto static metric 100
75.101.100.0/24 dev enp6s0 proto kernel scope link src 75.101.100.46 metric
100
169.254.0.0/16 dev enp6s0 scope link metric 1000
172.17.0.0/16 dev docker0 proto kernel scope link src 172.17.0.1 linkdown
209.16.159.0/24 dev enp6s0 proto kernel scope link src 209.16.159.252 metric
100
MostRecentCrashID: bp-f3d4806a-b277-49a1-b452-902072161127
PrefErrors: Unexpected character ',' before close parenthesis @
/usr/lib/firefox/omni.ja:greprefs.js:365
PrefSources: prefs.js
ProcEnviron:
TERM=xterm-256color
PATH=(custom, no user)
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
SHELL=/bin/bash
Profiles: Profile0 (Default) - LastVersion=97.0/20220202182137 (In use)
RunningIncompatibleAddons: True
SourcePackage: firefox
SubmittedCrashIDs:
bp-f3d4806a-b277-49a1-b452-902072161127
bp-4da20c64-dde1-4304-9118-238562160914
bp-16b8bc44-ebd0-46e0-a272-95feb2160908
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 01/16/2019
dmi.bios.release: 5.13
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: F25
dmi.board.asset.tag: Default string
dmi.board.name: AX370-Gaming 5
dmi.board.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
dmi.board.version: Default string
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Default string
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Default string
dmi.chassis.version: Default string
dmi.modalias:
dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvrF25:bd01/16/2019:br5.13:svnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:pnAX370-Gaming5:pvrDefaultstring:rvnGigabyteTechnologyCo.,Ltd.:rnAX370-Gaming5:rvrDefaultstring:cvnDefaultstring:ct3:cvrDefaultstring:skuDefaultstring:
dmi.product.family: Default string
dmi.product.name: AX370-Gaming 5
dmi.product.sku: Default string
dmi.product.version: Default string
dmi.sys.vendor: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
** Affects: firefox (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
** Tags: amd64 apport-bug focal
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1961010
Title:
firefox doesn't let its user control how or when it upgrades
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