Flagfox 6.1.5 and 5.2.11 updates released

Flagfox 6.1.5 for Firefox 60+ has been released and is available for update and download from AMO. Flagfox 5.2.11 has also been released for Firefox 52 ESR, SeaMonkey, and Firefox forks based on older Gecko versions (or at least anything newer than Firefox 24). You can download it here.

Flagfox 6.1.5 & 5.2.11 changelog:

• IPv4 & IPv6 address location database updates for September 2018

Mozilla has ended support for Firefox 52 ESR as of a few days ago, and thus this is the final Flagfox 5.2.x ESR update. Everyone should be in the process of upgrading to a currently maintained browser, if they haven’t already. Being labeled EOL does not make it instantly insecure, but continuing to use an out-of-date browser will eventually make yourself a danger to yourself and others. Yes, I’m well aware Mozilla has made a lot of mistakes here, but we’re all hostage to security updates, eventually. Direct your annoyance at somewhere other than here, please. (fortunately, the complaints I’ve received have at least been polite)

This also marks the end of official SeaMonkey support in Flagfox, until they get their act together and implement sufficient WebExtension API parity with Firefox 60 for things to work (and of course, fix the bugs that caused me to disable WebExt storage support in Firefox 5.2.x). If anyone knows what’s going on with them, I would be appreciated for some info. Is the SeaMonkey project dead, or is a Gecko 60 version actually coming?

Flagfox 6.1.2 and 5.2.10 updates released

Flagfox 6.1.2 for Firefox 60+ has been released and is available for update and download from AMO. Flagfox 5.2.10 has also been released for Firefox 52 ESR, SeaMonkey, and Firefox forks based on older Gecko versions (or at least anything newer than Firefox 24). You can download it here.

Flagfox 6.1.2 changelog:

• IPv4 & IPv6 address location database updates for August 2018
• Added DNS cache check retries if no IP is found within a minute of startup (for already loaded tabs)
• Created a hack to allow hiding of menus without deletion+recreation (WebExt API can only disable)
• Flagfox menus now hide automatically for all URLs which never show Flagfox icons (e.g. about:newtab)
• Flagfox menus are now generated on first open instead of all at first startup (using new APIs more)
• More cleanups and optimizations

Flagfox 5.2.10 changelog:

• IPv4 & IPv6 address location database updates for August 2018

This release was delayed a little bit this month for more testing of the menus revamp and startup DNS handling. No real user-facing changes here beyond working better, so still just counting this as a minor update. As per usual, contact me if something explodes.

Mozilla ends support for Firefox 52 ESR next month and thus the Flagfox 5.2.11 ESR update will be the final one on the old branch. Update to Firefox 60 ESR and Flagfox 6.1.x within the next couple months.

One final note: I’ve been checking the reviews on AMO for Flagfox less often these days, as they seem to have a rather bad spam/abuse problem at the moment. AMO reviews have never been a good contact method for anyone, so please don’t expect replies there, let alone quick. Bug reports and support requests should only be posted in any addon’s reviews as an act of desperation after all other contact channels have been exhausted.

Flagfox 6.1.1 and 5.2.9 updates released

Flagfox 6.1.1 for Firefox 60+ has been released and is available for update and download from AMO. Flagfox 5.2.9 has also been released for Firefox 52 ESR, SeaMonkey, and Firefox forks based on older Gecko versions (or at least anything newer than Firefox 24). You can download it here.

Flagfox 6.1.1 changelog:

• Fixed checking/disabling of unavailable actions in menus in some circumstances
• Worked-around WebExt menu API bugs when at “about:” URLs
• Various code cleanups and minor optimizations

(Flagfox 6.1.x already received the monthly IPDB update in 6.1.0; IPDB version is July 2018)

Flagfox 5.2.9 changelog:

• IPv4 & IPv6 address location database updates for July 2018

Just to reiterate for the last time: Flagfox 6.0.x is now EOL; upgrade to Flagfox 6.1.x.

An update on the topic of Mac keyboard shortcuts: For anyone who didn’t read the discussion in the comments on the Flagfox 6.1.0 release blog post, we seem to have come to the conclusion after testing on a Mac that Flagfox 6.1.0+ is actually handling things correctly for the platform, however there are more mystery hotkey combinations that Firefox thinks are fine and allows setting, but don’t actually ever work. Mozilla has provided no method to detect this problem. I suspect these are keyboard shortcuts for OS functions of some kind, and on Mac, this generally means the Command key, even though it gets used for lots of other stuff too. Alt and Ctrl were reported to be working fine, as well. So, for the moment, there’s nothing left for me to do with this issue. If Mozilla ever gets their act together here they might fix this by properly rejecting not-allowed hotkey combinations instead of setting up for silent fails. If anything changes here, please let me know.

Flagfox 6.0.7 and 5.2.8 updates released

Flagfox 6.0.7 for Firefox 57+ has been released and is available for update and download from AMO. Flagfox 5.2.8 has also been released for Firefox 52 ESR, SeaMonkey, and Firefox forks based on older Gecko versions (or at least anything newer than Firefox 24). You can download it here.

Flagfox 6.0.7 changelog:

• IPv4 & IPv6 address location database updates for June 2018
• Dropped now-defunct XMarks and URL Parser default actions
• Replaced old URL Parser action with a simple built-in JS action

(The replacement URL Parser default action is backported from the current Flagfox 6.1 betas.)

Flagfox 5.2.8 changelog:

• IPv4 & IPv6 address location database updates for June 2018
• Dropped now-defunct XMarks and URL Parser default actions

Flagfox 6.1 Beta 3 was released yesterday, and I hope to be able to release the final version soon. I still need someone with a Mac to test the new custom hotkey implementation, however. Today’s Flagfox 6.0.x update should be the last on that branch. If you’re one of the approximately 9000 people inexplicably still using Flagfox under Firefox 57-59, upgrade your damned browser. Flagfox 6.1+ requires Firefox 60+ (ESR). I can understand people still using Firefox 52 ESR and can even understand people wanting to use Firefox 56 (the last pre-WebExt-only version; don’t do it, though), but using one of the releases in-between Firefox 56 and the current Firefox 60 main release or ESR is just stupid. If anyone knows why anyone would be on these versions other than the standard “no software has a good updater and people ignore it” problem, I’m curious to know.

Flagfox 6.0.6 and 5.2.7 updates released

Flagfox 6.0.6 for Firefox 57+ has been released and is available for update and download from AMO. Flagfox 5.2.7 has also been released for Firefox 52 ESR, SeaMonkey, and Firefox forks based on older Gecko versions (or at least anything newer than Firefox 24). You can download it here.

Flagfox 6.0.6 changelog:

• IPv4 & IPv6 address location database updates for May 2018
• Updated Flagfox-Geotool CAPTCHA pass mechanism

Flagfox 5.2.7 changelog:

• IPv4 & IPv6 address location database updates for May 2018
• Updated Flagfox-Geotool CAPTCHA pass mechanism

(Same IPDB files as 6.0.x from same the build system, now updated. All other updates are exclusive to newer versions.)

The updated Flagfox-Geotool CAPTCHA pass mechanism is just a change from validating Flagfox versions to Geotool via a hash to an HMAC (a fancier hash) of the rest of the cookie. (still no user/client identifying information; no privacy policy change needed) Nobody should notice any change from this; it should just simplify maintenance of the system in the future. CAPTCHA policy is the same as it was before: the current and previous month’s Flagfox versions can use Geotool CAPTCHA-free and older versions don’t (with the current temporary exception of 5.2.3, the last 5.2.x version on AMO). Other abuse prevention mechanisms are also in place. We haven’t had too many issues as of late, so we’re hoping that people who would consider mass scraping Geotool results have just noticed it’s simpler to do it the right way and use an IP location database directly, instead of murdering Richard’s poor innocent server.

Flagfox 6.1 is still a work in progress. I’d have released a beta by now if Mozilla didn’t get rid of the beta channel on AMO. It still needs a little bit of work and testing; hopefully will be done soon. Just a reminder: Flagfox 6.1 requires Firefox 60+ (ESR).

Flagfox 6.0.5 and 5.2.6 updates released

Flagfox 6.0.5 for Firefox 57+ has been released and is available for update and download from AMO. Flagfox 5.2.6 has also been released for Firefox 52 ESR, SeaMonkey, and Firefox forks based on older Gecko versions (or at least anything newer than Firefox 24). You can download it here.

Flagfox 6.0.5 changelog:

• IPv4 & IPv6 address location database updates for April 2018
• Updated IPDB build system to handle new Maxmind file format
• Updated country names list for Swaziland->eSwatini name change

Flagfox 5.2.6 changelog:

• IPv4 & IPv6 address location database updates for April 2018

(Same IPDB files as 6.0.x from same the build system, now updated. All other updates are exclusive to newer versions.)

Future release schedule:
My extended support for Flagfox 5.2.x is scheduled to end once the current Firefox 52 ESR reaches its official end-of-life (EOL), which is currently scheduled to be in August 2018. If Mozilla’s schedule changes, I will most likely do so as well, but I don’t expect them to extend it. I plan to release Flagfox 6.1 sometime next month, at which time support for Flagfox 6.0.x will end. Flagfox 6.1 will use new APIs added to Firefox 60+, and as such will drop support for Firefox 56-59. This will create the unusual situation where the current version of Flagfox requires the absolute most recent version of Firefox, again. Fortunately, this time Firefox 60 is an ESR; no users should have any legitimate reason to continue running the dropped versions of Firefox. Of course, this plan is subject to change, as it all too frequently does.