Is Firefox ESR Updated to a New Version in Debian Testing?

[emariz]

I reinstalled Testing about a month ago. And this is my first time using Firefox ESR, ever. I used to grab the latest version from Unstable, and before that, I got the latest one from the Debian Mozilla repository.

I read that Firefox latest ESR version is 78, which was published about a month ago. The one currently in Testing is ESR 68, which is the previous version.
Even supposing that each ESR overlaps with the latest ESR some time (weeks, probably months) to allow system administrators to analyse and schedule the transition, I find it weird that ESR 78 has still not reached Testing.

Will Firefox ESR be updated in Testing?

[Head_on_a_Stick]

68.11 is also a current ESR version — Mozilla supply both[0] and it looks like Debian are sticking with 68.x until it's no longer available.

[CwF]

ya, [2020-08-03] firefox-esr 68.11.0esr-1 submitted
that is TODAY!

[Bulkley]

. . . Mozilla supply both . . . and it looks like Debian are sticking with 68.x until it's no longer available.

I'm glad of that. I've been playing around with MX which uses a recent Firefox that does not read my userChrome.css; Debian's Firefox-esr does.

[emariz]

68.11 is also a current ESR version — Mozilla supply both[0] and it looks like Debian are sticking with 68.x until it's no longer available.

I know that ESR 68 is still supported, we are in a transition period. What I do not understand is why ESR 78 has not reached Testing yet. It has been a month now; are we not supposed to test the new version?

This page clarified some things about Mozilla's ESR cycle. I still do not know how much Debian adheres to it.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/fi ... ease-cycle

Release cycle details

ESR releases are maintained for more than a year with point releases that coincide with regular Firefox releases. These point releases contain security upgrades.

The ESR version will also have a three cycle (at least 12 weeks) overlap between the time of a new release and the end-of-life of the previous release to permit testing and certification before you deploy the new version to your organization.

We rely on Firefox ESR users to provide feedback for each new ESR release. During the first two cycles, please report any bugs such as web compatibility regressions and stability issues.

Upgrade path between two ESR versions

An ESR release will be automatically upgraded to the subsequent ESR release. System administrators can disable automatic updates by managing ESR through their deployment system. From one major version to another, such as the version 52 to version 60 migration, the updates will be implemented only after version X.2.0 is released. For example, users of version 52 will be updated only when version 60.2.0 has been published.

I have no problems with ESR 68. I am curious about this because this is my first time tracking Firefox ESR.

[stevepusser]

. . . Mozilla supply both . . . and it looks like Debian are sticking with 68.x until it's no longer available.

I'm glad of that. I've been playing around with MX which uses a recent Firefox that does not read my userChrome.css; Debian's Firefox-esr does.

You can install Debian Buster's firefox-esr in MX 19, y'know...

Code: Select all

$ apt policy firefox-esr
firefox-esr:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 68.11.0esr-1~deb10u1
  Version table:
     68.11.0esr-1~deb10u1 500
        500 http://deb.debian.org/debian-security buster/updates/main amd64 Packages
     68.10.0esr-1~deb10u1 500
        500 http://deb.debian.org/debian buster/main amd64 Packages

[Bulkley]

You can install Debian Buster's firefox-esr in MX 19, y'know...

Yes, I know and I did. That's how I knew I was dealing with a Firefox problem and not a MX problem.

[Head_on_a_Stick]

What I do not understand is why ESR 78 has not reached Testing yet. It has been a month now; are we not supposed to test the new version?

I don't think FF updates work like that. I may be mistaken but I seem to remember testing being stuck on a vulnerable version for a while after a fix was pushed to stable.

[pylkko]

This page clarified some things about Mozilla's ESR cycle. I still do not know how much Debian adheres to it.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/fi ... ease-cycle

If we extrapolate from history, it will be many months before this transition happens. And it will most likely come to Stable before it comes to testing.

In the previous transitions, that is the earlier migrations of the new major versions of the ESR, it has happened nearly half a year after the publication of the new version. The next point release will be out already before the switch. For example, in July 2019 68 ESR was published. First mention in history:

Code: Select all

 [2019-08-20] Accepted firefox-esr 68.0.2esr-1 (source amd64 all) into unstable, unstable (Mike Hommey) 

Next mentions:

Code: Select all

 [2019-11-02] firefox-esr 68.2.0esr-1 MIGRATED to testing (Debian testing watch)
[2019-10-29] Accepted firefox-esr 68.2.0esr-1~deb10u1 (source all) into proposed-updates->stable-new, proposed-updates (Mike Hommey)
[2019-10-24] Accepted firefox-esr 68.2.0esr-1~deb10u1 (source all) into stable->embargoed, stable (Mike Hommey)
[2019-10-23] Accepted firefox-esr 68.2.0esr-1 (source) into unstable (Mike Hommey) 

Therefore, it took from July to Novermber from publishied by Mozilla to Testing
The same is more or less what happened with 52 > 60

[emariz]

If we extrapolate from history, it will be many months before this transition happens. And it will most likely come to Stable before it comes to testing.

In the previous transitions, that is the earlier migrations of the new major versions of the ESR, it has happened nearly half a year after the publication of the new version. The next point release will be out already before the switch. For example, in July 2019 68 ESR was published [...]

Therefore, it took from July to Novermber from publishied by Mozilla to Testing
The same is more or less what happened with 52 > 60

Thanks for the information, mate. While the transition of Firefox ESR in Testing is indeed a lengthy process, at least I know now that it is updated. This is my first time tracking it. Cheers!

[emariz]

Therefore, it took from July to Novermber from publishied by Mozilla to Testing
The same is more or less what happened with 52 > 60

Well, Firefox ESR 78.3 finally arrived in Testing a couple of days ago [1]. Fortunately it only took it about three months.
From what I had read, I thought that the first version in Testing would be 78.2, but I am happy either way.

1. https://tracker.debian.org/news/1178767 ... o-testing/

[stevepusser]

I noticed that the 10.6 update added much newer versions of cargo and rustc to Buster, which is usually in preparation for newer Mozilla apps.

[emariz]

I noticed that the 10.6 update added much newer versions of cargo and rustc to Buster, which is usually in preparation for newer Mozilla apps.

Great. This information might help our tracking incoming arrivals of Mozilla applicaions in the future.

[sgosnell]

Firefox-esr 78.3 arrived in Buster today.