14 DAY TRIAL // Mozilla is testing an interesting new feature in the upcoming Firefox 10, now in beta, the ability to fix issues and release patches of sorts via an add-on rather than a full browser update.
It's easy to see the advantages of this, even Firefox's semi-automated update process involves a lot of hassle and overhead that may not be justifiable for a small fix or problem.
Having an add-on that fixes the issue pushed to users, via the automated add-on update system, is a lot simpler and faster.
Mozilla has built the functionality into Firefox 10 and is now testing it before the stable release, which lands next week.
An add-on dubbed "Mozilla Firefox hotfix" has been pushed to Beta channel users. The add-on doesn't actually do anything, Mozilla is just testing the mechanism.
"We are pushing out an automatically downloaded test add-on for Firefox Beta users. The add-on itself does not change the behavior of Firefox in any way, and should be automatically uninstalled in the next week," Mozilla announced over the weekend.
"In the meantime it will, however, be visible in the Add-ons Manager as 'Mozilla Firefox hotfix'," it added.
"We plan to use this 'add-on hotfix' feature to deliver individual fixes to Firefox users between releases. The purpose of this week’s test is to collect metrics that verify the feature is working as expected," it explained.
The entire process should be fairly invisible to Beta users, they may only notice the new add-on if they open up the Add-on Manager. The add-on will be removed after the test is concluded.
However, in the future, Mozilla will use the same system to fix small issues, apply workarounds for various problems or revert a controversial change. The system allows Mozilla to issue a fix in a matter of hours and will enable the team to fix on the spot issues that would normally not warrant a full browser update, rather than wait for the next scheduled Firefox update.