Release a beta of the Firefox WebExtensions port

[Bisaloo]

If I got it right, the webextension port is ready or close to be since you released a chromium version of decentraleyes.

I think you should release a beta before the official release of Firefox 57. HTTPS-Everywhere just did this and the firefox and chromium API are apparently different enough to cause some issues.

I believe many followers of this github repo would be happy to help you test it.

[ghost]

No hurry. WebExtension is by itself a pain in the neck, moreover it won't be mandatory before Firefox 57, next November. Hence, November 2017 is the only milestone, otherwise, while we're at it, why not ask developers to update their add-ons to Nightly builds? Well, some users do, some users even score badly an add-on because it's not alpha-compatible! Hey: carpe diem! one thing at a time, please, mercy!

[heubergen]

I think FF57 Beta should be targed as goal to port this extensions to WE and this would be the 2017-09-26.

[uniquePWD]

56 would be better as the target (basically what's on Nightly now) so that there's enough time for testing and catching any bugs.

[welwood08]

If the configuration of existing legacy users is to be kept and imported to any webext version, the only way to do that is with a hybrid version that embeds a transitional webext to copy existing settings into webext-accessible storage. This must be done before FF57 (because the hybrid won't be able to load at all in FF57).

[Bisaloo]

I think some of the reasoning here is flawed. The FF and Chromium WebExtensions implementations are still pretty different. It is very likely that there will be bugs to fix.

What we don't know is how much time it is going to take to fix them. So the safest bet is to release the beta as soon as possible. The sooner bugs are reported, the longer @Synzvato (or anyone willing to help) will have to fix them.

Otherwise, we may possibly end up with no working decentraleyes when FF 57 comes out and it would be a shame.

[ghost]

[...]we may possibly end up with no working decentraleyes when FF 57 comes out and it would be a shame.

That would be no working decentraleyes on Firefox. There are alternatives to Firefox. I have in mind Waterfox if it manages to carry on legacy add-ons after Firefox 56.

Decentraleyes is a major add-on, it is for me together with a few others, not for cosmetics but for privacy and security. Should any of those add-ons not be available (sometimes because not technically feasible) that I'd move to a Firefox fork. And I won't be the only one.

[ke-d]

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/local-cdn-webextension/

I tested this and in my limited testing, it has some problems of its own, but someone else might have better luck.

[heubergen]

@mrdokenny Thanks for the effort but if you just repacked the chrome sources I can tell you that your not the first one that tried that :) If there more I think @Synzvato would be more than happy to merge it.
The Extensions seems not to work at all (https://decentraleyes.org/test/) so I think you can just delete it again :)

[ke-d]

@heubergen I think you are under the impression that this is my extension, but it's not. It's something I found on the mega list of WebExtension alternatives.

https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/6i1fu2/webext_equivalents_to_legacy_addons/

[heubergen]

Oh sorry, my bad.

[Synzvato]

@mrdokenny @heubergen Thank you for looking into this fork, but it is indeed broken. It has since been removed from the list of WebExtensions equivalents, and is no longer publicly listed on AMO.

I'm actively working on porting the add-on over to Firefox 57, but doing so is more complicated than I hoped. I'm aiming for a stable release on September 1^st. If the release deadline cannot be met, Mozilla will no longer longer be marking this extension as featured on AMO. It all depends on the possibilities.

The first alpha (or beta) will be made available as soon as there a working prototype. I'm happy to see that there's a lot of interest in this release, and I'll be sure to keep you all posted. Any suggestions or ideas are welcome! Please know that the development of the WebExtensions port has top priority.

[Synzvato]

The September 1^st deadline is now less than one month away, but things are looking up. I'm convinced a WebExtensions port is feasible, and hope to be able to release the beta within the next two weeks.

[uniquePWD]

Thank you for all of your hard work and effort @Synzvato. I would recommend that you keep an eye on https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1347507 as at least one of the module owners of Mozilla has said they're going to be aggressively ripping out XUL compatible components as of yesterday.

[ronjouch]

Today August 11 is the day for users running Nightly: PSA: Legacy extensions disabled by default on Nightly.

[gitarra]

@ronjouch This addon was already broken since version bump to 57.

[ronjouch]

@ronjouch This addon was already broken since version bump to 57.

No it wasn't, I was using Decentraleyes until today. (And to be totally precise, Legacy addons are still usable if you flip extensions.legacy.enabled in about:config). I was just mentioning the mailing-list announcement to share the moving WebExt-only train has arrived to the next station, in case some users are surprised by this 🙂.

[darnir]

@gitarra It indeed was still working. In fact, I don't have today's nightly and Decentraleyes is working for me.

Since this is the very last legacy addon I have, it would be really nice if a useable beta was already out for us to convert.

[Synzvato]

Thanks, @ronjouch, @gitarra, and @darnir. Does the legacy extension pass the testing utility checks? Expect a Firefox 56 and 57 compatible WebExtensions beta within the next few days.

[ronjouch]

@Synzvato

"Does the legacy extension pass the testing utility checks?"

Nope. With the legacy extension installed (manually enabled through extensions.legacy.enabled) and a restart, the test util says:

Your browser was able to connect to a blacklisted CDN.
Decentraleyes is not working as intended.

"Expect a Firefox 56 and 57 compatible WebExtensions beta within the next few days."

Awesome! Thanks for your work!

[Synzvato]

Awesome! Thanks for your work!

@ronjouch You're very welcome, and thank you all for your support and general enthusiasm!

[darnir]

For me it does pass the utility check.
I have Decentraleyes along with uMatrix running.

[uniquePWD]

It doesn't pass for me on three mobile devices and a two different laptop profiles running 57.

[Synzvato]

@darnir @sabret00the It shouldn't pass any tests within Firefox 57, since a couple of essential legacy APIs have been stripped from its codebase. So, this is where things end for the legacy add-on.

[Synzvato]

The second beta is now available. This means that if you are currently using Firefox Beta or Nightly, you can start using the WebExtensions port today. Feedback is welcome, so feel free to get in touch.

Note: If you experience any kind of problems, please make sure you are using the very latest versions of Firefox Beta or Nightly before filing a bug. Be sure to install any available Firefox updates.

---

Special thanks go to Mozilla's Rob Wu, for his valuable support during the porting procedure. Also, many thanks to everyone close to me, who supported me on a personal level.

I would also like to thank all contributors and users that keep this project alive, and am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the new codebase. Please don't hesitate to leave feedback!

[EchoDev]

Thanks for all the work @Synzvato

I wonder if the packed XPI version would work on stable (FF55). Does FF55 have all the API's needed for the webextension version to work?

Last time I checked you could easily sign extensions on AMO if you handle the distribution on your own. I might give it a try if FF55 is able to use the webextension version.

edit: Unless I did something wrong it doesn't seem to work FF55. The extension does load, but it fails the test on the Decentraleyes homepage. (tested packed and unpacked)

I guess I will wait for FF56 to pop up.

[ronjouch]

w00t 👍. I confirm 2.0.0-beta1 installs fine on Nightly 57.0a1 (2017-08-16) with the above procedure and prefs, and the test page confirms "Decentraleyes is fully operational".

[Synzvato]

I noticed that you're not using a development channel on AMO [...]. Any chance you can upload the WebExtension to the development channel [...] while you await the uplift to 56?

@pwd-github Once I can confirm that the Nightly update that fixes the issue has been distributed, I'll be uploading beta-1 to AMO. The beta tag will cause the channel to be created automatically.

[uniquePWD]

Thank you @Synzvato, I and I expect everyone else appreciates all of your efforts.

[Synzvato]

Decentraleyes v2.0.0beta1 is now available inside of the AMO development channel. Alternatively, you can download the package from the corresponding release page in this repository.

[uniquePWD]

Well done and thank you @Synzvato.

[WhyNotHugo]

Odd, it claims to be incompatible with FF 55, but I've a few other WebExtension plugins running on FF 55. Is this an oversight, or does it actually depend on newer FF features?

[Synzvato]

Well done and thank you [...].

@pwd-github Thank you, and I'm glad you like the outcome!

Odd, it claims to be incompatible with FF 55, but I've a few other WebExtension plugins running on FF 55. Is this an oversight, or does it actually depend on newer FF features?

@hobarrera Although it might look as if Decentraleyes is unnecessarily late to the party, the new WebExtension does indeed depend on features that are not present in Firefox 55. Luckily, Mozilla has been kind enough to uplift some required fixes to Firefox 56. They will likely land in 56.0b7.

It's definitely not an oversight, and v2.0 will land as early as absolutely possible!

[WhyNotHugo]

Ah, thanks for the clarification! I was assuming it might be this.

[savyajha]

@Synzvato Since FF 56.0b7 has landed, do you think it's okay to allow the webext to install on FF 56? I tried installing the packaged version from github, and I get the message that it's not supported on 56. :(

[Synzvato]

@savyajha Good question! I would recommend waiting just a tad longer. Decentraleyes v2.0.0beta2 will be targeting Firefox 56 (and higher), and should be ready sometime next week.

[davidhedlund]

@Synzvato Is Decentraleyes a hybrid WebExtension yet?

[Synzvato]

@davidhedlund Yes, v1.3.10 uses an embedded WebExtension for preference migration.

[Synzvato]

Decentraleyes v2.0.0beta2 is now available inside of the AMO development channel. Alternatively, you can download the package from the corresponding release page inside of this repository.

Note: This beta release is compatible with Firefox 56.0b7 (and higher).

[andyleejordan]

The pre-release version 2.0.0beta3 works with Firefox Beta (57.0b3); however, for some reason AMO still says:

This add-on is not compatible with your version of Firefox.

I am speaking specifically about version 2.0.0beta3 under the "Development Channel." But downloading it and installing manually worked anyway.

Edit: Thank you for this wonderful extension!

[andyleejordan]

Nevermind. This doesn't repro on my Windows 10 machine, just on my macOS machine. /shrug

[majewsky]

@Synzvato Do I understand correctly, that 2.0.0 will become stable when Firefox 56 is out in the wild, and users on Stable won't have to do anything else to prepare for 57 (other than auto-updating to Decentraleyes 2.0.0)?

[Synzvato]

The pre-release version 2.0.0beta3 works with Firefox Beta (57.0b3); however, for some reason AMO still says: This add-on is not compatible [...] on my macOS machine.

@andschwa Thanks for reporting this! I have double-checked the compatibility metadata, but couldn't find any issues there. It's marked as being compatible with "All Platforms". I'll be sure to ask other macOS users to have a go at reproducing the problem. I'll post additional details if anything is found.

Thank you for this wonderful extension!

@andschwa You're welcome, and I'm glad to hear you like it!

Do I understand correctly, that 2.0.0 will become stable when Firefox 56 is out in the wild, and users on Stable won't have to do anything else to prepare for 57 [...]?

@majewsky That's fully correct! As soon as most people use Firefox 56, the WebExtension will be released, and existing installations can be (auto-)updated. Make sure you're using the latest version of the legacy add-on before upgrading to v2.0.0 if you want your settings to be migrated over.

[savyajha]

@andschwa Looks like you might have privacy.resistFingerprinting set to true on your Mac.

[andyleejordan]

@savyajha oh, hey! Look at that. I guess it's working as intended 😄

[OdinGitDat]

That's fully correct! As soon as most people use Firefox 56, the WebExtension will be released.

56 has been rolled out for a few days now.

[Synzvato]

56 has been rolled out for a few days now.

Yes, I do know, but thanks for making sure! Since v2.0.0 is incompatible with Firefox 55, I am waiting a couple of extra days, to keep the majority of (potential) users from running into installation issues.

[Bisaloo]

I have no idea how https://addons.mozilla.org/ works. Out of curiosity, what will happen to Firefox ESR users?

[nogweii]

They will download the latest version that is marked compatible, like any other Firefox. If they don't update to the next version of ESR, which will include WebExtension support, they will be stuck at that version of the addon. (Individual developers may or may not continue development of the two different types of extensions, but that is hard so I don't expect so.)

In DecentralEyes' case, I don't think there is any plan to continue development of the not-WebExtension version? So I think the latest compatible version is the 1.x series, and not 2.0.

[Bisaloo]

They will download the latest version that is marked compatible, like any other Firefox

In that case, what's the harm in uploading decentraleyes v2.0.0 now as long as it is marked incompatible with FF < 56?

I feel like I'm missing something.

[Synzvato]

I don't think there is any plan to continue development of the not-WebExtension version? So I think the latest compatible version is the 1.x series, and not 2.0.

@evaryont There is a plan to provide the legacy extension with security updates, libraries, and other small improvements. However, both extensions will remain completely separated. So yes, 1.x.x.

In that case, what's the harm in uploading decentraleyes v2.0.0 now as long as it is marked incompatible with FF < 56? [...] I feel like I'm missing something.

@Bisaloo The problem is, that Firefox 55 or ESR users would not directly see the older version. They would be greeted with a multitude of warnings, as well as a grayed out download button.

[Synzvato]

The stable release of Decentraleyes v2.0.0 (for Firefox) is now available on AMO. Alternatively, you can get the extension from the corresponding release page inside of this repository. Thanks for waiting!

[collinbarrett]

awesome, thanks. it does say it is not compatible for me with Firefox Developer Edition on Windows. but, that could be tied to the Dev. Edition being a version or two ahead?

[welwood08]

Excellent news!

@collinbarrett Dev Edition on Windows is fine, I have seen that happen when using certain privacy preferences (such as privacy.resistFingerprinting which disguises your browser version to a fixed value).

[collinbarrett]

@welwood08 Ah. Thanks. That's exactly what it is. I am using https://github.com/pyllyukko/user.js/