Release notes should really include the release notes
A new version of the Firefox browser was released today. A minor update from version 2.0.0.6 to version 2.0.0.7.
Even more minor than that, actually, since what came out was just an RC version for testing. Sometime in the past I downloaded an update that was considered a beta or RC, so I’m on the list to keep getting them on the automatic updates.
The problem is that there was no information provided on what exactly the update includes, and what is the purpose behind it. The release notes page did not contain any relevant info (I’m not promising they won’t change the page in the future. It doesn’t contain the info now, and haven’t for quite a few hours so far).
It had lots of other things, the general outline they put on each release-notes page. But the actual release notes, what was changed from the last version, no. Nothing.
There wasn’t even any link to a page where this information could be found. Because, well, in theory it would have been that exact same page.
That’s a very very poor way to roll out an update. If you ask someone to install a new version of a software, and especially if it’s a beta/RC that you want people to test and provide feedback for, you have to tell them why and what has changed.
Seems very sensible to me. Apparently doesn’t seem so sensible to some of the people in the Mozilla foundation. Don’t get me wrong, they’re doing a great job, and Firefox is terrific. But most people don’t follow all the bugs and progress on every single application they use, so it’s far from obvious what an update is for.
I do hope they’ll do better next time. I’m more than willing to install updates, but I need to know why.
In this particular case, if someone is interested, it’s a single fix for a single security vulnerability. Well, a potential whole class of problems, but only a single known point. Which was now actually more of a problem with the Quicktime plug-in (on Windows) and not in Firefox itself, but in this case it’s a good idea to fix it in Firefox as well, to prevent any future problems from the same direction. You can look at the actual bug report for more technical information, if you really want to.
September 18th, 2007 at 3:19 EET | Categories: Marketing, Security, Technology |
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August 3rd, 2010 at 10:55
Well, I have to admit that you say is good, but that is a beta, I want to have problems is normal, after all, is to test the problem, and then found improvement
August 4th, 2010 at 12:59
I like to usd the browser like the fifox.
I can not agree with you more,’
Thank you for sharing.
August 9th, 2010 at 12:10
This is a very, very bad way to launch an update. If you ask someone to install a new version of software, especially if it is a beta / RC, you want people to test and provide feedback, you must tell them why, what has changed.
August 13th, 2010 at 10:11
A study was then designed to identify successful patient habits, and was presented by Cook and Edwards,8 in 1998, at the American Society for Bariatric Surgery Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL. This study was later published in Obesity Surgery, in February 1999.
August 14th, 2010 at 4:43
Werder Bremen Midfielder Torsten Frings is due to a red card, which he, on Tuesday evening in the test match against the Turkish champion Galatasaray Istanbul had seen from his club fined been.
August 16th, 2010 at 9:44
But seriously now, it’s really good stuff. There are all the good ideas brought over from when the Merb team joined the party and brought a focus on framework agnosticism, slimmer and faster internals, and a handful of tasty APIs. If you’re coming to Rails 3.0 from Merb 1.x, you should recognize lots. If you’re coming from Rails 2.x, you’re going to love it too.
August 28th, 2010 at 5:34
Stay Safe While You Surf. Firefox keeps your personal info personal and your online interests away from the bad guys.