Some websites "jump the gun" and post it before Mozilla officially releases the new Firefox version. But this time Mozilla turned off the update just a few hours after releasing Firefox 51.0, due to a problem with Geolocation that need to be fixed. Firefox51.0.1 should be available tomorrow or Friday thru the update system.

the-edmeister said

Some websites "jump the gun" and post it before Mozilla officially releases the new Firefox version. But this time Mozilla turned off the update just a few hours after releasing Firefox 51.0, due to a problem with Geolocation that need to be fixed. Firefox51.0.1 should be available tomorrow or Friday thru the update system.

Thanks for taking time to reply, but this doesn't answer my question: It's not a matter of websites "jumping the gun." If there's a final release version made available to download sites, why shouldn't they post it goes so as many people as possible can get it as soon as possible? My question is: Once it's made available at all, why isn't that the "officially release?" Once it's released at all, then what does "officaily released" mean anyway, practically speaking, since it's being made available to download sites with Mozilla's clear understanding that it will be then made available, immediately, to the general public that frequents those sites? I'm confident if I ask Majorgeeks, they'll tell me that Mozilla isn't asking them to hold the software until some "official" release date.

So back to the original question: Once these updates are available for download publically, why does it take so long for Mozilla to make them available through their own update mechanism? Can't these updates be uploaded to Mozilla's own update servers simultaneously with the uploads to Majorgeeks and others?

GaryK

Firefox 51.0 has been available for download from www.mozilla.org and www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ since it's release on Tuesday Jan 24. No need to get Firefox 51.0 on random download sites like Majorgeeks

As said the update to Firefox 51.0 were disabled due to a Geolocation issue mainly and updates will be enabled when 51.0.1 is Released.

Normally the automatic updates are throttled to 25% from day of Release and then unthrottled to 100% on Friday of the week if everything is fine. You can see this here

Mozilla does not release Firefox on any random download sites as what happens is people on those sites grab them from the folder on https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/ as 51.0 was listed late the day before.

Jumping the gun by software download sites with the Firefox web browser is a thing and used to be worse in the past. Majorgeeks is or was one of the biggest offenders on this as they have even went so far as posting random development channel builds as a Release at times.

"Once these updates are available for download publically, why does it take so long for Mozilla to make them available through their own update mechanism?"

There's a Release Schedule posted - always on a Tuesday. https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar

James said

Firefox 51.0 has been available for download from www.mozilla.org and www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ since it's release on Tuesday Jan 24. No need to get Firefox 51.0 on random download sites like Majorgeeks As said the update to Firefox 51.0 were disabled due to a Geolocation issue mainly and updates will be enabled when 51.0.1 is Released. Normally the automatic updates are throttled to 25% from day of Release and then unthrottled to 100% on Friday of the week if everything is fine. You can see this here Mozilla does not release Firefox on any random download sites as what happens is people on those sites grab them from the folder on https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/ as 51.0 was listed late the day before. Jumping the gun by software download sites with the Firefox web browser is a thing and used to be worse in the past. Majorgeeks is or was one of the biggest offenders on this as they have even went so far as posting random development channel builds as a Release at times.

None of you is answering the question. Thanks anyway. Over and out.

It did not take long as the updates to 51.0 was indeed available on Jan 24 and is still available for download from *.mozilla.org.

Occasionally something can be discovered after a major Release such as a crash prone or stability issue and on a few occasions even warranted disabling updates until first chemspill update like this time. They try to catch issues in Beta channel testing and in Release candidate builds with automated and QA testing.

What kind of answers were you expecting?

V51 was not available via Firefox's own update mechanism for a full day after it was available on Majorgeeks. V51.01 is still not available, more than a full day after. This is a recurring pattern.

I asked, "Why is it being done this way." The responses boil down to, "This is how it's being done." These are not answers.

Your and the other responses imply that the posting of a release version is really a public beta. Mozilla should be transparent and call these what thety are and stop trying to have it both ways. Releases either ready for public dissemination or they're not.

So, to answer your question: The kind of answer I was expecting is something that is actually an answer--why is it being done this way--not just an explanation of how it's being done.

GaryK

There are always build candidates available and sometimes also the release version. These builds need to be tested by quality assurance people and once they confirm that there aren't problems with these builds then that version gets released to the public. Updates are offered to a limited audience to be able to evaluate for issues.

gkarasik said

V51 was not available via Firefox's own update mechanism for a full day after it was available on Majorgeeks. V51.01 is still not available, more than a full day after. This is a recurring pattern.

As said already the updates to Firefox 51.0 did indeed exist on Jan 24 but when the Geolocation issue was discovered the updates was turned off late on Tuesday.

Firefox 51.0.1 is indeed available at www.mozilla.org and www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ and should be on updates already or soon.

It is not unusual for Mozilla to turn off updates after a stability or problem top crasher that was discovered after Release due to real world use and then release a X.0.x chemspill update shortly after.

As was also said Majorgeeks grabbed it from https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/ which may be why they could seem to have a version listed a day before a version is officially listed for Release on *.mozilla.org.

This was more so a problem when Mozilla used to have mirrors http://www-archive.mozilla.org/mirrors.html in which Releases were on ftp.mozilla.org first so mirrors can grab them before a official Release.

You must be pretty new to Firefox if you have not gone through how Releases can go about and could be delays and such.

I never said any releases could actually be a Beta or such as you are confusing yourself, especially since Beta is one of the four main development channels. Not to confuse you further but Release < Beta (b#) < Aurora (a2) (aka developers edition) < Nightly (a1). Release is 51.0.1 and Beta currently has first build of 52.0 as in 52.0.b1 for example.

cor-el said

There are always build candidates available and sometimes also the release version. These builds need to be tested by quality assurance people and once they confirm that there aren't problems with these builds then that version gets released to the public. Updates are offered to a limited audience to be able to evaluate for issues.

When software is available in the Releases directory and marked Final, then one assumes it is past the point of quality assurance testing. If it's not, then it ought not to be marked as a Final, and to mark it as Final would be misleading at best. If it is intended as a Final release, meaning beyond QA testing, then there's no difference if someone downloads it from Releases or Majorgeeks. Marked as Final, Mozilla is saying it's ready to go. Can't have it both ways. Either it's Final, and meant for public release, or it's not Final and intended for QA testing.

James said

gkarasik said

V51 was not available via Firefox's own update mechanism for a full day after it was available on Majorgeeks. V51.01 is still not available, more than a full day after. This is a recurring pattern.

As said already the updates to Firefox 51.0 did indeed exist on Jan 24 but when the Geolocation issue was discovered the updates was turned off late on Tuesday.

Firefox 51.0.1 is indeed available at www.mozilla.org and www.mozilla.org/firefox/all/ and should be on updates already or soon.

It is not unusual for Mozilla to turn off updates after a stability or problem top crasher that was discovered after Release due to real world use and then release a X.0.x chemspill update shortly after.

As was also said Majorgeeks grabbed it from https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/ which may be why they could seem to have a version listed a day before a version is officially listed for Release on *.mozilla.org.

This was more so a problem when Mozilla used to have mirrors http://www-archive.mozilla.org/mirrors.html in which Releases were on ftp.mozilla.org first so mirrors can grab them before a official Release.

You must be pretty new to Firefox if you have not gone through how Releases can go about and could be delays and such.

I never said any releases could actually be a Beta or such as you are confusing yourself, especially since Beta is one of the four main development channels. Not to confuse you further but Release < Beta (b#) < Aurora (a2) (aka developers edition) < Nightly (a1). Release is 51.0.1 and Beta currently has first build of 52.0 as in 52.0.b1 for example.

"As said already the updates to Firefox 51.0 did indeed exist on Jan 24 but when the Geolocation issue was discovered the updates was turned off late on Tuesday."

Totally irrelevant. That all occurred after the time frame I'm questioning. It was available, marked as Final, in the Releases directory and not available for a full 24 hours via FFox's own update mechanism. The Geolocation issue occurred subsequent to that.

Version 51.01 likewise was available in Releases but not available via FFox for more than 24 hours (it is finally available now). So the question still has not been answered: Why would a public, final version be available in one Mozilla place but not another? Why would updates intended for public dissemination not be available simultaneously in Releases and via FFox?