SeaMonkey Project Blog

Just for the sake of jogging memory (as I just forgot about this and was trying to figure out what I did wrong):

SeaMonkey 2.53.7 en-US/zh-TW users need to manually upgrade to 2.53.8.1.

Or, for the sake of ‘fun’,  just install 2.53.8 and have the system upgrade it to 2.53.8.1.  Why would you do that?  *shrug*  For <something> and giggles..   Just so to prove it works.

:ewong

Hi All,

Just a quick note that SeaMonkey 2.53.8.1 is out!  The Updates part should work as intended…

Please do read the Release notes at [1].

:ewong

[1] – https://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/seamonkey2.53.8.1/

Hi All,

I hope everyone is doing well.

tl;dr;

After struggling for so long, I’m happy to announce that I’ve pushed the Updates server to live.  While I (and others) have tested against our installed versions, with the user base so broad, it’s difficult to find the edge cases.  Hopefully this will help us improve the updates server.

Long form:

So updates are now being served with the following caveats:

•  versions <= 2.49.5: are unfortunately not supported.  The main rationale for this is the fact that the changes from <= 2.49.5 to 2.53.* could corrupt client data. [*][**]
• 2.53.1 -> 2.53.4: These version still use the old aus2-community.mozilla.org domain.  A simple user.js addition can fix this.  That said, this domain will be decommissioned (not under our control, but I’m guessing this will be an eventuality).  So when it does gets decommissioned, all versions <= 2.53.4 will be getting server not found or some such similar notice on the Update dialog.   While the user.js changes can fix it until the client is updated, it’s the only workaround.
• 2.53.x: are not affected and can be updated but with the following sub-caveat:
  • 2.53.7, en-US/zh-TW: Due to a build issue, the en-US client would request zh-TW updates, which it would have gotten and thus confusing the user.  Workaround: Manually update to 2.53.7.1 to get the update to 2.53.8…  or just install 2.53.8.  Again… this applies *only* to 2.53.7 and to locales en-US and zh-TW. All other locales are unaffected.

[*] – Manual update is still possible (provided that your operating system is supported.  Please *always* backup your profile.  While it is possible to use the same user.js to get clients to use the new update server,  versions <= 2.33 won’t actually recognize the new server due to the Certificate trust issues.  Unfortunately, this can’t be helped and it is impractical to fix (especially given the small group we have at SeaMonkey central).

[**] – Technically speaking, it is possible to get the update served for at least versions >= 2.38. (Anything less is not possible due to certificate trust issues and updating these clients’ certificate info has come to the stage of being ‘impractical’ given our resources.)  That said, while it is technically possible, it might just well be infeasible/impractical (again, given the resources we have).  To be honest, I’m not happy about this myself; but realistically speaking, we all have only so much time to spend on this project.  I feel this might be considered a cop-out/excuse.

I had the original intention when I first started the updates server project to update every (yes.. I mean *every* — incl. 1.x) single SeaMonkey version to the latest(depending on OS support);  but as I mentioned before during my update investigations,  it isn’t possible.

I’ll summarize here:

• 1.x and 2.0.x are no longer supported (doubt anyone can support these versions.. not even sure the code can compile on  modern-day computers w/ modern day compilers.. but.. having not compiled anything lately…  I could be wrong).
• Versions <= 2.33 have issues with certificate trust so they can’t even connect to the new update server without given you an “Untrusted connection issue”, if and when you use the user.js changes to point the clients to the new update server.
• 2.49.1 – 2.49.5: These can be updated to 2.53.8 but require the following:
  • a special update package due to the change in update format which upgrades the 2.49.5 to 2.53.1, which can then upgrade to 2.53.8.
  • user.js changes/additions.
  • OS-supported.  2.49.5 is the last version that supports <=XP and <=OSX10.8
• 2.53.1 – 2.53.4: Need a change/addition to user.js to update to 2.53.8 due to server change.

On the page, it looks simple and one may wonder why the hell can’t we update anything we want to the latest and greatest(again, OS dependent).  I can tell you it isn’t without trying.  I know that’s not saying a lot really.  Since I’ve been struggling with this for so long,  I sometimes wonder if someone else might do a better job… and I think someone can.  The project just needs to find that someone.  In the meantime, I’m continually plugging away at this.

My next project is the crash reporter server.  (Context-switching is difficult.) Hopefully, once that’s out of the way, I can go back and help out with the code.

Anyway, I’ve written a lot this time, and I do appreciate everyone’s patience (especially,  my fellow devs).

It’s been very tough on everyone lately due to the pandemic so I hope everyone is keeping safe and healthy.

Best Regards,

:ewong

Hi All,

This is a quick announcement that SeaMonkey 2.53.8 has been released!

Please check it out at [1] or [2].

:ewong

PS: Updates are being tested..

[1] – https://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/seamonkey2.53.8/

[2] – https://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/2.53.8#official

Hi All,

Just want to mention that SeaMonkey 2.53.8 Beta 1 is out.

Please visit [1] for more info:

[1] – https://www.seamonkey-project.org/releases/2.53.8b1

PS: Yes, quite a brief mention.  Working on the updates situation…

Hi,

Updates are still unavailable.

Reason?

What I had thought was a working system turned out that it wasn’t working that well.  It worked when I ran updates and it worked for others on the test site.   But in production,  it worked only for a few.  Some updates were given in zh-*.    So instead of keeping it up and giving people bad updates, I’ve opted to switch off the updates altogether until I can get my stuff together.

So…  back to the drawing board (but not square one).

My apologies for those affected by the locale switch.  But I thank you all for the precious feedback.

:ewong

Hi again,

In my previous post, I mentioned aus2-community.mozilla.org’s update domain will be decommissioned.   Why?  Because while the system running as aus2-community.mozilla.org is under our control,  the domain itself is Mozilla’s.  It’s a Mozilla management/security concern that an external system is using their domain.  That’s understandable.  So this domain will eventually retire.  ;/

This means that all versions that point to that domain will be calling /dev/null. IOW, you won’t get any response.

Will there be a patch so that all versions point to the newer updates.seamonkey-project.org?   Unfortunately, no.

While it is possible to point old versions to the new update domain, there’s little point in doing so as mentioned in the previous post.  No updates.

Incidentally, while I’m at it (and can remember), the Mozilla crash-stats server will no longer be accepting crash-stats from SeaMonkey post 2nd Quarter (I think it was July).  This means that until we’ve set up a new crash-stats server (2nd in priority behind the updates server),  future crashes will be ignored by Mozilla’s crash-stats server.

Why is this happening?  Lessens the burden of Mozilla’s crash-stats system and maintenance.  That’s the gist of it.  Since this has already been decided, I’m not going to dwell on it.  It’s just another added priority for us.

Best Regards,

:ewong

Hi everyone,

I’m putting this post up to better clarify the situation with the updates.  I’m hoping to switch the updates.seamonkey-project.org to using the new update system.  aus2-community.mozilla.org will be left as is (mainly because one of these days, that domain will be decomissioned (since it is Mozilla’s))[will post an addendum.]

tl;dr:  SeaMonkey 2.53.* (and newer) are the only versions that will have updates.

Long form:

My original intention was to allow any version upgrade to any other greater version (barring operating system restrictions etc..).  Like, if you had installed 1.x, you’d be able to upgrade to 2.53.7.1.  *That* was my intention.

As in with intentions mixed in with life, things aren’t that simple.  I had posted this concern on the lists and probably here as well; but I’m just going to repeat myself.

The SeaMonkey Project will only be supporting the 2.53.* (Gecko 56) family.  Any other previous versions are no longer supported in terms of updates.  As of this writing, I’m not entirely sure the 2.49.* family will ever be updated (but you’ll never know).  The 2.49.1 – 2.49.4 to 2.49.5 update is a special case as the 2.49.5 update files had changed and we missed the opportunity to create a set of transitional update files for that.

Big corporations, like Microsoft, no longer support old operating systems.  Win 1 to (recently) Win7 are no longer supported.  Ditto with the Windows Servers (NT, to 2008).  If big corporations can’t/won’t support old operating systems; what hope do we (as a small group of volunteers) have?  Is this a justification to leave old software high and dry?  No; but it is not realistic to expect a small group of volunteers to support software that no longer build on any system.   Furthermore, even websites are now finicky as to which browser can view them, which further adds to the frustrations of using old SeaMonkey versions.

Is it possible to set up a VM to build old software?   Possibly; but is it worth the time and resources?    Unfortunately, the answer here is no.   This is the unfortunate by-product of technological progression.   Does this mean the old versions can’t be  used?  No.  It’s just that using it on an actual system could potentially harm the system.

I realize this may sound like an excuse for ignoring old software; but there really only so much we can do; particularly when the engine is changing so rapidly that we’re trying to keep track of the *latest* stuff coming out from Mozilla.

The benefit of the SeaMonkey project sticking with only 2.53.x + updates is that these updates will work on systems being updated.   All other versions polling for updates will not get any.   (Still, a part of me is reserving the right to modify the system to allow updates from 2.49.x to 2.49.5 at least.  As mentioned earlier in a post on the support mailing list,  only versions > 2.33 (iirc) can be updated due to certificates not being recognized and that  can’t be helped.))

So the final conclusion, as mentioned above, is that only 2.53.x + will get updates.

I do apologize for the long windedness and the decision to only update 2.53.x. It doesn’t give me pleasure to state it outright; but it’s always the resources issue.

Yours sincerely,

:ewong

Hi All,

With the decommissioning of the mozilla newsgroup/mailing list, we’ve migrated to Googlegroups at:

1. Dev App : https://groups.google.com/a/lists.mozilla.org/g/dev-apps-seamonkey/
2. Support: https://groups.google.com/a/lists.mozilla.org/g/support-seamonkey/

Having just posted on both lists,  I’m going to have to figure a better way of posting it on both lists simultaneously.

:ewong

Hi all,

The SeaMonkey project would like to announce the official release of SeaMonkey 2.53.7.1.  As this is a security release, please update if you can.

:ewong

PS: Has the project ever announced an unofficial release?.. hrm..