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Enterprise/Firefox/ExtendedSupport:Proposal: Difference between revisions
Enterprise/Firefox/ExtendedSupport:Proposal (view source)
Revision as of 16:40, 9 November 2011
, 9 November 2011→Proposal
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= Proposal = | = Proposal = | ||
Mozilla will offer an Extended Support Release (ESR) based on official | Mozilla will offer an Extended Support Release (ESR) based on an official release of Desktop Firefox. Releases will be maintained for nine release cycles (currently 54 weeks), with point releases coinciding with regular Firefox releases. | ||
To permit organizations sufficient time for testing and certification, the ESR will have a two cycle (12 week) overlap between the time of a new release and the end-of-life of the previous release. This will allow organizations to qualify and test against Aurora and Beta builds for twelve weeks leading up to the ESR, and an additional 12 weeks to certify and transition to a new ESR. | To permit organizations sufficient time for testing and certification, the ESR will have a two cycle (12 week) overlap between the time of a new release and the end-of-life of the previous release. This will allow organizations who control updates (e.g. have disabled automated updates) to Firefox to qualify and test against Aurora and Beta builds for twelve weeks leading up to the ESR, and an additional 12 weeks to certify and transition to a new ESR. Organizations that rely on Firefox's built-in updater may be limited to a transition period of 6 weeks, dependant upon how the ESR releases are maintained. | ||
The chart below outlines the process behind the creation and maintenance of the ESR, which will be based on release versions of Firefox Desktop. | The chart below outlines the process behind the creation and maintenance of the ESR, which will be based on release versions of Firefox Desktop. | ||
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[[File:Esr-release-overview.png]] | [[File:Esr-release-overview.png]] | ||
Maintenance of each ESR, through point releases, would be limited to high-risk/impact security vulnerabilities and would also include chemspills (off-schedule releases that address live security vulnerabilities). Backports of any functional enhancements and/or stability fixes would not be in scope. At the end of the | Maintenance of each ESR, through point releases, would be limited to high-risk/impact security vulnerabilities and would also include chemspills (off-schedule releases that address live security vulnerabilities). Backports of any functional enhancements and/or stability fixes would not be in scope. At the end of the support tail the release will be end-of-lifed in conjunction with an updated ESR being offered. | ||
Mozilla will continue to collect additional information on deployment of Firefox in managed environments, and will work with community groups to facilitate adoption of the official releases of Firefox in those environments. Based on the data collected and adoption of the new release process over the course of maintaining the ESR, Mozilla would announce the continuation or impending end-of-life of the program. The initial proposal would be to support a minimum of two ESR releases. | Mozilla will continue to collect additional information on deployment of Firefox in managed environments, and will work with community groups to facilitate adoption of the official releases of Firefox in those environments. Based on the data collected and adoption of the new release process over the course of maintaining the ESR, Mozilla would announce the continuation or impending end-of-life of the program. The initial proposal would be to support a minimum of two ESR releases. | ||
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== Assumptions == | == Assumptions == | ||
* '''Firefox | * '''Firefox 10 will be the base version for the initial ESR''' and, assuming this is the case, '''Firefox 3.6 will be end-of-lifed on April 24th, 2012'''. | ||
* Mozilla will | * The ESR release will use the same version number as the version of Firefox it is based upon (e.g. if the ESR is based off of Firefox 10, the ESR version will also be 10) | ||
* The ESR point releases will follow Firefox conventions for point releases (e.g. 10.0.1, 10.0.2, etc.) | |||
* The ESR will be released day-and-date with the Firefox release it is based upon to the best of Mozilla's ability to do so. | * The ESR release will use the same application GUID as Firefox | ||
* Mozilla will, to the best of its ability, backport security bugs qualified as [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security_Severity_Ratings "Critical" and "High"] to the ESR. Other security and stability backports to the ESR will be included at Mozilla's discretion. | |||
* The ESR will be released day-and-date with the Firefox release it is based upon, to the best of Mozilla's ability to do so. | |||
* Point releases to the ESR will run in parallel with the Firefox release schedule (e.g. point releases will be released every 6 weeks at the same time as a regular Firefox desktop release, [http://betanews.com/2009/03/27/mozilla-to-release-urgent-chemspill-firefox-update-next-week/ chemspills] when a Firefox chemspill is released) | * Point releases to the ESR will run in parallel with the Firefox release schedule (e.g. point releases will be released every 6 weeks at the same time as a regular Firefox desktop release, [http://betanews.com/2009/03/27/mozilla-to-release-urgent-chemspill-firefox-update-next-week/ chemspills] when a Firefox chemspill is released) | ||
* When an ESR reaches end-of-life, no further point releases or chemspill updates will be offered for that ESR, and an update to the | * When an ESR reaches end-of-life, no further point releases or chemspill updates will be offered for that ESR, and an update to the latest version of the ESR (or Desktop Firefox, if the ESR for that platform is discontinued) will be offered to users of the end-of-lifed version | ||
* The ESR will not be marketed through mozilla.com properties other than the Enterprise wiki page and/or staging servers. | * The ESR will not be marketed through mozilla.com properties other than the Enterprise wiki page and/or staging servers. | ||
== Caveats == | == Caveats == | ||
* Firefox Mobile will not be maintained as an ESR | * Firefox Mobile will not be maintained as an ESR | ||
* Only those Operating Systems, or versions thereof, supported | * Only those Operating Systems, or versions thereof, supported by the version of Firefox the ESR is based upon will be supported through the life of that release. | ||
* Only those locales supported by the version of Firefox the ESR is based upon will be supported through the life of that release. | |||
* Organizations that deploy the ESR would be strongly encouraged to participate in the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Enterprise Enterprise Working Group] (EWG) to ensure they are kept abreast of developments, and can contribute feedback and assistance where needed. | * Organizations that deploy the ESR would be strongly encouraged to participate in the [https://wiki.mozilla.org/Enterprise Enterprise Working Group] (EWG) to ensure they are kept abreast of developments, and can contribute feedback and assistance where needed. | ||
* Organizations that deploy the ESR will be assuming a number of risks (see below), and must understand the implications of using the ESR versus the current release of Firefox. | * Organizations that deploy the ESR will be assuming a number of risks (see below), and must understand the implications of using the ESR versus the current release of Firefox. | ||