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0 pointszinekeller3y ago0 comments

> and presumably on other OSs

Nope, it only happens when something outside changed Firefox's files (in this case when Ubuntu swapped files because dpkg updated Firefox). This never happens* in Windows and macOS (it might nag, but you can definitely dismiss it). It seems that johnchristopher has a suggestion to disable auto-updates on a specific application in Debian and Ubuntu (haven't tested it though): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33202052

* At least using their official installers. I'm specifically excluding using Chocolatey/brew/other loose-file update mechanism or your bonkers enterprise solution insists on using loose files and not rely on *.msi/*.app/*.pkg.

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6 comments · 4 top-level

kevincox3y ago· 2 in thread

This is exactly right. And this happens because it needs to load libraries or exec subprocesses that aren't compatible between versions. Since the matching version of the file has been replaced with a newer one it doesn't really have a choice, it is unable to launch the new tab. The nice message is a better alternative than crashing.

This also doesn't occur on NixOS because the new version is in a different direcotry and the old version is kept until it is garbage collected.

vetinari3y ago

> This also doesn't occur on NixOS because the new version is in a different direcotry and the old version is kept until it is garbage collected.

Also with flatpak; you are using the old version until you close it. Then it will be garbage collected. On the next launch, you will be running a new version from different root.

account423y ago

This is 100% something that can be fixed by the browser. Package updates don't change existing files but rather create new files and update the filesystem to point to them. All it takes to not need a restart is to keep file handles open for all needed resources and forking from such a process instead of exec()ing new ones. Not entirely trivial for applications as monstrously complex as browsers but hardly comparable to other challenges they need to solve. It's only because they can control the update process on the OS they care about (Windows) that they don't bother.

jdofaz3y ago

If you download the linux version of Firefox from mozilla.org you get a tarball that you can extract and run Firefox from without needing to do anything to install it. When I've run it this way it self updates the same way as it does on macos or windows.

tjoff3y ago

No, you have control over dpkg.

It was snap that updated firefox regardless of whether you wanted it or not.

jpeloquin3y ago

> Nope, it only happens when something outside changed Firefox's files … This never happens* in Windows and macOS (it might nag, but you can definitely dismiss it).

Happens with multiple Firefox instances too, `firefox -P -no-remote` (I think in recent versions the -no-remote is redundant), even on Windows with official installers. In that case you don't even get the error message; new tabs just remain blank. There might be a delay between process A's update and symptoms appearing in process B; not sure.

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