SM 2.57alpha1

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RDaneel
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SM 2.57alpha1

Post by RDaneel »

So... how usable is this now?

For the first time since I started checking, I have looked at this puppy after [of course] doing a full profile backup... and it has apparently functioning email - including Lightning!

For the record, this is buildID 20210426120003.

The only "obviously" missing functionality is uBlock Origin (the version that works on current SM) and the "polyfill" plugin... the former was automatically disabled with no message, the latter is disabled with a "incompatible version" message showing in the Add-ons Manager.

If our illustrious devs (or anyone else with knowledge of the subject) think it might be a good idea to try monkeying with the installation params/limits in uBlock, I will... hmmm. Looking at the rdf file in the uBlock xpi, I notice that it already says "2.*" for the max version of SeaMonkey supported - so this dodge looks like it isn't available. :(

So while I can live without good ol' "polyfill" support, I don't think I want to surf the friendly [Web] skies (so to speak) without a net. :|

Oh, and a fuzzy and unscientific observation - the speed of scrolling through the horizontal tabs with the mouse wheel looks to be higher than our 2.53.8 Build By Bill(tm).

But this progress is amazing! :)

UPDATE: I looked at the resource utilization, and memory consumption looks quite high (relative to 2.53.8 with uBlock Origin running), and the high context-switch rate (several hundred per second) looks like this may still have the bogus graphics images in it that we had in 2.53 before they got fixed. Yes, I know, this is unreleased software etc. :roll:
frg
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Joined: December 15th, 2015, 1:20 pm

Re: SM 2.57alpha1

Post by frg »

> So... how usable is this now?

There is progress. Still only good for light testing. Fort mail eg. cert override is broken and Lightning had problems because only bootstrapped add-on support is available. TB kludged around it but I am thinking of backing out the bugs and restore it. Depends on how complex it is.

uBlock Classic and NoScript will not work with this version becuase of api removals by Mozilla. They will also hang SeaMonkey at shutdown usually.

The web ext versions need extensive frontend support in SeaMonkey which is not yet there. Volunteers welcome :)

2.57 is a classic case of how I would not do it if enough devs were available. Currently focus is on 2.53 with some leftovers for 2.57. It is usually test on 2.53 then port to comm-central and then move to 2.57. 2.57 is missing some later fixes too which are already in 2.53. Periodically I or IanN move missing ones from 2.53 in and/or add additional ones not suitable for 2.53.

FRG
RDaneel
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Re: SM 2.57alpha1

Post by RDaneel »

Thanks, f-r, so... the APIs used even by the "legacy" uBlock are not available in 2.57, so we would need to have functional "Web Extensions" support and then a more modern version of uBlock could be used in 2.57? Ouch. :(

I may have misunderstood the priorities of our hard-working devs, but I had thought that the "future" was all about 2.57, and that 2.53 was largely on life support and getting occasional love (and bug fixes) as time permitted, while the majority of effort went into 2.57?

Were these ever the priorities and things changed as our available manpower for SeaMonkey dev work dwindled further? Or did I really just not properly interpret what I was reading? :|

Also, I am trying to unravel (or just understand) the links between "Web Extensions" and "Wasm"...

In any case, 2.57 "feels" like it has come a long way. :)
frg
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Re: SM 2.57alpha1

Post by frg »

> Thanks, f-r, so... the APIs used even by the "legacy" uBlock are not available in 2.57, so we would need to have functional "Web Extensions" support and then a more modern version of uBlock could be used in 2.57? Ouch. :(

Yes latest web ext uBlock works already in a Firefox build done from our 2.53 sources. A few things would need to be backported for a smoother ride but this should not be a problem in 2.57. The problem is that the front end is not there.

> I may have misunderstood the priorities of our hard-working devs, but I had thought that the "future" was all about 2.57, and that 2.53 was largely on life support and getting occasional love (and bug fixes) as time permitted, while the majority of effort went into 2.57?

No this was never the case at least for me. I need a full working browser. But all enhancements go into 2.57 too.

> Were these ever the priorities and things changed as our available manpower for SeaMonkey dev work dwindled further? Or did I really just not properly interpret what I was reading? :|

Misinterpretation I would say. 2.53 was orginally a private pet project of mine which got a little out of hand :) Do not be fooled by the .1 incremental version numbers. This is not an ESR version with only a sec update or two put in.
If manpower further dwindles it would not go any further but this has not changed for some years. And we have at least some people contributing a bit more like https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1633339

> Also, I am trying to unravel (or just understand) the links between "Web Extensions" and "Wasm"...

No link. Different issues. Thankfully WASM is only used primary for games and shady cryptomining websites right now. If this goes mainstream it would not be good for SeaMonkey and in my opinion the next security desaster for the web.

> In any case, 2.57 "feels" like it has come a long way. :)

Yes you can thanks IanN for it. I am mostlly bogged down with backports these days.

FRG
4td8s
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Re: SM 2.57alpha1

Post by 4td8s »

frg wrote:
uBlock Classic and NoScript will not work with this version becuase of api removals by Mozilla. They will also hang SeaMonkey at shutdown usually.
these are not only the extensions that currently don't work with SM 2.57 alpha.

this pdf.js addon that I was using with SM 2.53.x also does not work (always prompts to open or save PDF instead of immediately viewing it) with the 2.57 alphas

also FTP sites using ftp:// protocol (ex. ftp.adobe.com) in the url bar also do not work in 2.57
frg
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Re: SM 2.57alpha1

Post by frg »

ftp will be fixed in the next build.

Extensions and 2.57 will be hit and miss as was the case with TB 60. Most classic extensions will probably need an update or two. Unless at least the web ext versions of uBlock and No Script work it will not be released as a final / replacement for 2.53.x
4td8s
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Re: SM 2.57alpha1

Post by 4td8s »

RDaneel wrote: In any case, 2.57 "feels" like it has come a long way. :)
indeed it has but the 2.57 builds from wg9s have not been updated as frequently as the 2.53.x builds he have
-though he recently posted an 8/20/2021 update for 2.57, previous 2.57 build before the recent update was from 7/28/2021
RDaneel
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Re: SM 2.57alpha1

Post by RDaneel »

And... yet another 2.57 today (8/21/2021)! :)

Regarding the frequency of these on Builds by Bill(tm), since it says there the builds are based on patch activity, I just assumed there was nothing relevant (or specific?) to 2.57 being committed - but I have occasionally been wrong. ;)

In any case, I jumped on this and installed it - and the email client appears functional and complete (to the limit of things I tried) - sweet.

Just for fun, I also installed the latest "development" release of UBO from Github (selecting the "Firefox signed version")... amazingly, I was allowed to install and it didn't get automatically disabled on me. Of course, it didn't work, either.

Anyway, cool progress, probably just a few Web Extensions odds and ends to finish up... that was an attempt at humor, by the way. ;)
frg
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Re: SM 2.57alpha1

Post by frg »

Well the version numbers do not tell the full story. Actually 2.57 is behind 2.53 in fixes. About 300 missing. I started merging but mozilla reformatted the sources for ESR60 and this is actually not an easy task. Neither the original patches appy nor the 2.53 ones.

2.57 needs web extension support and unless we have more people actually doing things it will be a slow go. Just a matter of resource allocation.

2.57 is a bit more advanced but mostly because mozilla ripped out pieces. While it has some better compatibility with some sites it is not a groundshaking expirience. It would be better to develop it instead of 2.53 but I at least need a fully working suite so more of my time goes into 2.53. And some of the things mozilla removed between 56 and 60 are plain bonkers like view source in a tab only. Thinking about backing these out but this further compicates things.

FRG
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therube
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Re: SM 2.57alpha1

Post by therube »

amazingly, I was allowed to install and it didn't get automatically disabled on me. Of course, it didn't work, either.
Instead of amazingly, at this point, it should be, unfortunately.

Unfortunately, you can even install webextensions into SeaMonkey 2.53.x - with no complaints.
And of course they will never work there.
Fire 750, bring back 250.
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 6.1; en-US; rv:1.9.1.19) Gecko/20110420 SeaMonkey/2.0.14 Pinball CopyURL+ FetchTextURL FlashGot NoScript
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