Java plugin phase out timeline

[Java Dev]

Hello,

Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.

We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.

We want our users to use Firefox instead of other browsers, especially since we have had to run through some hoops to get our corporate clients to switch from IE to Firefox for our web applications. For some reason, some corporations are resistant to running browsers other than IE and it took some convincing on our part.

Your response is greatly appreciated. We would prefer our user community still use Firefox and not switch to IE, while we are working through converting our web products to web based technology and away from the Java plugin. We are concerned that if they switch to IE again, while we work to replace Java applets, their IT departments might not approve going back again to Firefox.

Best Regards,
Alexandra

P.S. If you are interested, more information about our company and products is available at www.7thonline.com.

[Chris Peterson]

Post by Java Dev
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.

hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support in
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in November
2016 and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed if we need
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.

The next Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) version is 52 and will
receive security updates for a year. By removing NPAPI in Firefox 53,
the release *after* the ESR, users that need NPAPI support can continue
to switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018.


chris

[b***@gmail.com]

Hello, I have some use cases, which currently are "solved" with Java Applets:

1 - Control a Twain scanner. (kodak scanner i2800)
2 - Control a fingerprint reader (Nitgen Fingkey Hamster I DX).
3 - Control a barcode reader.

All of these involve access dll's (or .so ) via JNI.


What technology Firefox provides so I can migrate and continue to access/control hardware as i can now via dll's + JNI + Java Applets?
--
Fábio C. Barrionuevo da Luz
Palmas - Tocantins - Brasil - América do Sul

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.

hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support in
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in November
2016 and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed if we need
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.
The next Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) version is 52 and will
receive security updates for a year. By removing NPAPI in Firefox 53,
the release *after* the ESR, users that need NPAPI support can continue
to switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018.
chris

[Mikael Haltali]

Hi,
the best solution currently is js-ctypes which enables you to build an
extension that calls a custom dll written in C
That's what my team is currently doing to migrate a NPAPI plugin.
Documentation is good but the only drawback currently is the lack of end to
end examples.
Here is a link to official documentation
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/js-ctypes

Hope this helps

Post by b***@gmail.com
1 - Control a Twain scanner. (kodak scanner i2800)
2 - Control a fingerprint reader (Nitgen Fingkey Hamster I DX).
3 - Control a barcode reader.
All of these involve access dll's (or .so ) via JNI.
What technology Firefox provides so I can migrate and continue to
access/control hardware as i can now via dll's + JNI + Java Applets?
--
Fábio C. Barrionuevo da Luz
Palmas - Tocantins - Brasil - América do Sul
Em terça-feira, 23 de fevereiro de 2016 15:35:46 UTC-3, Chris Peterson

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web

products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace
Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and
several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the
"drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to

confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we
would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to
provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time
(disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.

Post by Chris Peterson
hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support in
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in November
2016 and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed if we need
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.
The next Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) version is 52 and will
receive security updates for a year. By removing NPAPI in Firefox 53,
the release *after* the ESR, users that need NPAPI support can continue
to switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018.
chris

_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[Benjamin Smedberg]

Post by Mikael Haltali
Hi,
the best solution currently is js-ctypes which enables you to build an
extension that calls a custom dll written in C

To repeat what Chris Peterson wrote, we strongly discourage use of
JS-ctypes is new code: it is very difficult to write code which is
memory-safe. We strongly encourage everyone to use a separate process
and communicate with pipes using system/child_process or the future
WebExtensions.

--BDS

[Mikael Haltali]

Ok my bad for pointing people in the wrong direction
How come js-ctypes is not recommended but child_process is although it's
marked as "Experimental" in the documentation. What does that even mean? A
next update could break the API or could it be removed in a new build?

Anyways thanks for the information

Post by Benjamin Smedberg

Post by Mikael Haltali
Hi,
the best solution currently is js-ctypes which enables you to build an
extension that calls a custom dll written in C

To repeat what Chris Peterson wrote, we strongly discourage use of
JS-ctypes is new code: it is very difficult to write code which is
memory-safe. We strongly encourage everyone to use a separate process and
communicate with pipes using system/child_process or the future
WebExtensions.
--BDS

[Benjamin Smedberg]

Post by Mikael Haltali
How come js-ctypes is not recommended but child_process is although
it's marked as "Experimental" in the documentation.

I can't explain the "experimental" except that development of the addon
SDK never finished it. But it's been around and pretty stable for a
while, and it is technically the least dangerous choice and has some
nice properties of API and crash isolation.

--BDS

[Mikael Haltali]

Ok thanks for the info
Our development is still at a proof of concept stage thankfully so I guess
i'm going to be doing another proof of concept using child_process :)

Post by Benjamin Smedberg

Post by Mikael Haltali
How come js-ctypes is not recommended but child_process is although it's
marked as "Experimental" in the documentation.

I can't explain the "experimental" except that development of the addon
SDK never finished it. But it's been around and pretty stable for a while,
and it is technically the least dangerous choice and has some nice
properties of API and crash isolation.
--BDS

[Chris Peterson]

hi Fábio, an alternative to js-ctypes is to create a Firefox extension
that communicates with a child process written in native code that calls
your DLL. The Addon SDK's system/child_process API allows pipe-based
communication with an external binary:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Add-ons/SDK/Low-Level_APIs/system_child_process



chris

Post by Mikael Haltali
Hi,
the best solution currently is js-ctypes which enables you to build an
extension that calls a custom dll written in C
That's what my team is currently doing to migrate a NPAPI plugin.
Documentation is good but the only drawback currently is the lack of end to
end examples.
Here is a link to official documentation
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/js-ctypes
Hope this helps

Post by b***@gmail.com
1 - Control a Twain scanner. (kodak scanner i2800)
2 - Control a fingerprint reader (Nitgen Fingkey Hamster I DX).
3 - Control a barcode reader.
All of these involve access dll's (or .so ) via JNI.
What technology Firefox provides so I can migrate and continue to
access/control hardware as i can now via dll's + JNI + Java Applets?
--
Fábio C. Barrionuevo da Luz
Palmas - Tocantins - Brasil - América do Sul
Em terça-feira, 23 de fevereiro de 2016 15:35:46 UTC-3, Chris Peterson

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web

products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace
Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and
several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the
"drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to

confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we
would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to
provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time
(disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.

Post by Chris Peterson
hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support in
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in November
2016 and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed if we need
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.
The next Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) version is 52 and will
receive security updates for a year. By removing NPAPI in Firefox 53,
the release *after* the ESR, users that need NPAPI support can continue
to switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018.
chris

_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[m***@gmail.com]

Post by b***@gmail.com
1 - Control a Twain scanner. (kodak scanner i2800)
2 - Control a fingerprint reader (Nitgen Fingkey Hamster I DX).
3 - Control a barcode reader.
All of these involve access dll's (or .so ) via JNI.
What technology Firefox provides so I can migrate and continue to access/control hardware as i can now via dll's + JNI + Java Applets?
--
Fábio C. Barrionuevo da Luz
Palmas - Tocantins - Brasil - América do Sul

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.

hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support in
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in November
2016 and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed if we need
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.
The next Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) version is 52 and will
receive security updates for a year. By removing NPAPI in Firefox 53,
the release *after* the ESR, users that need NPAPI support can continue
to switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018.
chris

[m***@gmail.com]

Post by Mikael Haltali
Hi,
the best solution currently is js-ctypes which enables you to build an
extension that calls a custom dll written in C
That's what my team is currently doing to migrate a NPAPI plugin.
Documentation is good but the only drawback currently is the lack of end to
end examples.
Here is a link to official documentation
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/js-ctypes
Hope this helps

Post by b***@gmail.com
1 - Control a Twain scanner. (kodak scanner i2800)
2 - Control a fingerprint reader (Nitgen Fingkey Hamster I DX).
3 - Control a barcode reader.
All of these involve access dll's (or .so ) via JNI.
What technology Firefox provides so I can migrate and continue to
access/control hardware as i can now via dll's + JNI + Java Applets?
--
Fábio C. Barrionuevo da Luz
Palmas - Tocantins - Brasil - América do Sul
Em terça-feira, 23 de fevereiro de 2016 15:35:46 UTC-3, Chris Peterson

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web

products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace
Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and
several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the
"drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to

confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we
would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to
provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time
(disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.

Post by Chris Peterson
hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support in
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in November
2016 and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed if we need
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.
The next Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) version is 52 and will
receive security updates for a year. By removing NPAPI in Firefox 53,
the release *after* the ESR, users that need NPAPI support can continue
to switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018.
chris

_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[m***@gmail.com]

Post by Mikael Haltali
Hi,
the best solution currently is js-ctypes which enables you to build an
extension that calls a custom dll written in C
That's what my team is currently doing to migrate a NPAPI plugin.
Documentation is good but the only drawback currently is the lack of end to
end examples.
Here is a link to official documentation
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/js-ctypes
Hope this helps

Post by b***@gmail.com
1 - Control a Twain scanner. (kodak scanner i2800)
2 - Control a fingerprint reader (Nitgen Fingkey Hamster I DX).
3 - Control a barcode reader.
All of these involve access dll's (or .so ) via JNI.
What technology Firefox provides so I can migrate and continue to
access/control hardware as i can now via dll's + JNI + Java Applets?
--
Fábio C. Barrionuevo da Luz
Palmas - Tocantins - Brasil - América do Sul
Em terça-feira, 23 de fevereiro de 2016 15:35:46 UTC-3, Chris Peterson

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web

products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace
Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and
several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the
"drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to

confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we
would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to
provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time
(disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.

Post by Chris Peterson
hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support in
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in November
2016 and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed if we need
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.
The next Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) version is 52 and will
receive security updates for a year. By removing NPAPI in Firefox 53,
the release *after* the ESR, users that need NPAPI support can continue
to switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018.
chris

_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[Java Dev]

Post by Chris Peterson
The next Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) version is 52 and will
receive security updates for a year. By removing NPAPI in Firefox 53,
the release *after* the ESR, users that need NPAPI support can continue
to switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018.

Chris,

Thank you so much for your speedy reply! Greatly appreciate it! Sorry it took me a while to get back in here. Honestly, I was a little afraid to check back and find out the answer.

It is such excellent news that our user community could continue to use Firefox by going to the Firefox ESR version 52 and can use it for about a year more. Is there a specific announcement page where I can check the status/progress for this version and how to use it/switch to it or should I check-in back here later in the year? We want to make our corporate clients aware of their options, the timeline and make sure they stay on Firefox!

Thanks again!

Best Regards,
Alexandra

[Chris Peterson]

Post by Java Dev
It is such excellent news that our user community could continue to use Firefox by going to the Firefox ESR version 52 and can use it for about a year more. Is there a specific announcement page where I can check the status/progress for this version and how to use it/switch to it or should I check-in back here later in the year? We want to make our corporate clients aware of their options, the timeline and make sure they stay on Firefox!

More information about Firefox ESR installation and its release schedule
is available below, but feel free to check this list or email directly.

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/faq/

chris

[Java Dev]

Post by Chris Peterson
More information about Firefox ESR installation and its release schedule
is available below, but feel free to check this list or email directly.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/faq/

Thank you, it is very informative!

Post by Chris Peterson
hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support in
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in November
2016 and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed if we need
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.

As it has been a few months, I just wanted to double check if the release schedule mentioned above for removal of NPAPI plugins such as the Java Runtime Environment is still the same - namely, the NPAPI support is removed with Firefox 53 which would be released to the public in April 2017.

Thank you in advance!

Best Regards,
Alexandra

[Chris Peterson]

Post by Java Dev

Post by Chris Peterson
hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support in
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in November
2016 and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed if we need
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.

As it has been a few months, I just wanted to double check if the release schedule mentioned above for removal of NPAPI plugins such as the Java Runtime Environment is still the same - namely, the NPAPI support is removed with Firefox 53 which would be released to the public in April 2017.

Yes. That's still the plan.

[Java Dev]

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev
As it has been a few months, I just wanted to double check if the release schedule mentioned above for removal of NPAPI plugins such as the Java Runtime Environment is still the same - namely, the NPAPI support is removed with Firefox 53 which would be released to the public in April 2017.

Yes. That's still the plan.

Sounds good, thank you for the quick reply!

[Java Dev]

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev

Post by Chris Peterson
hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support in
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in November
2016 and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed if we need
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.

As it has been a few months, I just wanted to double check if the release schedule mentioned above for removal of NPAPI plugins such as the Java Runtime Environment is still the same - namely, the NPAPI support is removed with Firefox 53 which would be released to the public in April 2017.

Yes. That's still the plan.

Just a reality check - the plan above for the Firefox 53 release still the same (as in April 2017)?

Also, I have been puzzled about something else recently. Even if the NPAPI plug-ins are allowed in Firefox ESR, how is the "plug-in black list" in Firefox ESR handled? Would Java be blocked somehow in it? In other words, is there a possibility that Java as a plug-in would be blocked in the Firefox ESR "plug-in black list", even though NPAPI plug-in's as a whole would still be allowed? And how likely is this to actually happen? Appreciate your help with these questions.

[Benjamin Smedberg]

Post by Java Dev
Also, I have been puzzled about something else recently. Even if the NPAPI
plug-ins are allowed in Firefox ESR, how is the "plug-in black list" in
Firefox ESR handled? Would Java be blocked somehow in it? In other words,
is there a possibility that Java as a plug-in would be blocked in the
Firefox ESR "plug-in black list", even though NPAPI plug-in's as a whole
would still be allowed? And how likely is this to actually happen?
Appreciate your help with these questions.

The purpose of the plugin blocklist is to keep users secure from
known-vulnerable versions of various plugins. We regularly add old
versions of Flash and Java to the blocklist when security updates are
released. We also periodically may add the *current* version of plugins to
the blocklist if there are unpatched vulnerabilities which are being
actively exploited in the wild.

This is no different for ESR than normal release channels, and we will
continue to maintain this blocklist for Java versions through the end of
the supported ESR cycle.

--BDS

[Java Dev]

Post by Benjamin Smedberg

Post by Java Dev
Also, I have been puzzled about something else recently. Even if the NPAPI
plug-ins are allowed in Firefox ESR, how is the "plug-in black list" in
Firefox ESR handled? Would Java be blocked somehow in it? In other words,
is there a possibility that Java as a plug-in would be blocked in the
Firefox ESR "plug-in black list", even though NPAPI plug-in's as a whole
would still be allowed? And how likely is this to actually happen?
Appreciate your help with these questions.

The purpose of the plugin blocklist is to keep users secure from
known-vulnerable versions of various plugins. We regularly add old
versions of Flash and Java to the blocklist when security updates are
released. We also periodically may add the *current* version of plugins to
the blocklist if there are unpatched vulnerabilities which are being
actively exploited in the wild.
This is no different for ESR than normal release channels, and we will
continue to maintain this blocklist for Java versions through the end of
the supported ESR cycle.
--BDS

Thank you for addressing this topic as well. When the non-ESR version that blocks all NPAPI plugins is released, it would not need a blocklist anymore. Therefore, the blocklist would be used only by the ESR version while NPAPI plugins are still allowed for it. Is this correct? As such, is it possible to keep, at a minimum, the latest updates of Java available (not blocked) so that users can continue using Java with the ESR version while it still supports NPAPI plugins?

Best Regards,
Alexandra

[Benjamin Smedberg]

Post by Java Dev
Thank you for addressing this topic as well. When the non-ESR version that
blocks all NPAPI plugins is released, it would not need a blocklist
anymore. Therefore, the blocklist would be used only by the ESR version
while NPAPI plugins are still allowed for it. Is this correct?

That is correct.

--BDS

[Benjamin Smedberg]

Actually Chris, my plan was to do this in Firefox 52, not wait for Firefox
53.

--BDS

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev

Post by Chris Peterson
hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support in
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in November
2016 and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed if we

need

Post by Chris Peterson
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.

As it has been a few months, I just wanted to double check if the release
schedule mentioned above for removal of NPAPI plugins such as the Java
Runtime Environment is still the same - namely, the NPAPI support is
removed with Firefox 53 which would be released to the public in April 2017.

Yes. That's still the plan.
_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[Christian Rottler]

So, will the NPAPI support still be present in the ESR52 line of browsers or not? Now I'm a bit confused...

Regards,
Chris (some other Chris, that is)

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
Actually Chris, my plan was to do this in Firefox 52, not wait for Firefox
53.
--BDS

Post by Chris Peterson

On Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 1:35:46 PM UTC-5, Chris Peterson

Post by Chris Peterson
hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support

in

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Chris Peterson
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in

November

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Chris Peterson
2016 and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed if

we

Post by Chris Peterson

need

Post by Chris Peterson
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.

As it has been a few months, I just wanted to double check if the

release

Post by Chris Peterson

schedule mentioned above for removal of NPAPI plugins such as the

Java

Post by Chris Peterson

Runtime Environment is still the same - namely, the NPAPI support is
removed with Firefox 53 which would be released to the public in

April 2017.

Post by Chris Peterson
Yes. That's still the plan.
_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[Benjamin Smedberg]

Yes, we will support NPAPI in the ESR52 series. My intention is to stop
supporting it in the 52 release series.

--BDS

Post by Christian Rottler
So, will the NPAPI support still be present in the ESR52 line of browsers
or not? Now I'm a bit confused...
Regards,
Chris (some other Chris, that is)
Am 27. Juni 2016 17:35:57 MESZ, schrieb Benjamin Smedberg <

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
Actually Chris, my plan was to do this in Firefox 52, not wait for Firefox
53.
--BDS

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev

Post by Java Dev

Post by Chris Peterson
hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support in
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in November
2016
and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed if we

need

Post by Chris Peterson
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.

As it has been a few months, I just wanted to double check if the release

schedule mentioned above for removal of NPAPI plugins such as the Java
Runtime Environment is still the same - namely, the NPAPI support is
removed with Firefox 53 which would be released to the public in April 2017.

Yes. That's still the plan.
------------------------------
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

------------------------------
dev-tech-plugins
mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[Christian Rottler]

Okay, I see. Thanks for your quick reply!

Cheers,
Chris

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
Yes, we will support NPAPI in the ESR52 series. My intention is to stop
supporting it in the 52 release series.
--BDS

Post by Christian Rottler
So, will the NPAPI support still be present in the ESR52 line of

browsers

Post by Christian Rottler
or not? Now I'm a bit confused...
Regards,
Chris (some other Chris, that is)
Am 27. Juni 2016 17:35:57 MESZ, schrieb Benjamin Smedberg <

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
Actually Chris, my plan was to do this in Firefox 52, not wait for

Firefox

Post by Christian Rottler

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
53.
--BDS
On Wed, Apr 27, 2016 at 5:35 PM, Chris Peterson

On Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 1:35:46 PM UTC-5, Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev

Post by Java Dev

Post by Chris Peterson
hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support

in

Post by Christian Rottler

Post by Benjamin Smedberg

Post by Java Dev

Post by Java Dev

Post by Chris Peterson
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in

November

Post by Christian Rottler

Post by Benjamin Smedberg

Post by Java Dev

Post by Java Dev

Post by Chris Peterson
2016
and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed

if we

Post by Christian Rottler

Post by Benjamin Smedberg

Post by Java Dev

Post by Java Dev
need

Post by Chris Peterson
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.

As it has been a few months, I just wanted to double check if

the release

Post by Christian Rottler

Post by Benjamin Smedberg

Post by Java Dev
schedule mentioned above for removal of NPAPI plugins such as the

Java

Post by Christian Rottler

Post by Benjamin Smedberg

Post by Java Dev
Runtime Environment is still the same - namely, the NPAPI support

is

Post by Christian Rottler

Post by Benjamin Smedberg

Post by Java Dev
removed with Firefox 53 which would be released to the public in

April 2017.

Post by Christian Rottler

Post by Benjamin Smedberg

Yes. That's still the plan.
------------------------------
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------------------------------
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mailing list
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[Java Dev]

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
Actually Chris, my plan was to do this in Firefox 52, not wait for Firefox
53.
--BDS

Thank you for the quick reply. Just to clarify, what is the scheduled release time frame/date for Firefox version 52 which would block all NPAPI plugins? Also, is it still the case that users who need NPAPI support can switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018?


Best Regards,
Alexandra

[Benjamin Smedberg]

The Firefox release calendar can be found at
https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar

--BDS

Post by Java Dev

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
Actually Chris, my plan was to do this in Firefox 52, not wait for

Firefox

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
53.
--BDS

Thank you for the quick reply. Just to clarify, what is the scheduled
release time frame/date for Firefox version 52 which would block all NPAPI
plugins? Also, is it still the case that users who need NPAPI support can
switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018?
Best Regards,
Alexandra
_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[Suril Patel]

Hi Benjamin (or other associate),

I am trying to follow, but I think I am a little confused by the latest
exchange. We use an NPAPI plugin for Video conferencing, as part of very
large (millions) consumer facing organization.

Per what I understood previously, Version 52, will Beta Release on Jan 23
or Jan 24. The actual general release date - I don't see it, but I am
curious.

1) Will v52 - releasing in Q1 - by default blacklist all NPAPI plugins?
2) Thus, the user if he wishes to use an NPAPI plugin, he will have to
manually go somewhere to "enable" or "whitelist" plugins individually or is
it a setting for all? Any insights here are helpful.
3) What is general release date for v52?
4) I assume v53, which is April 2017 will completely disable NPAPI, with
no manual override.

I want to clarify - in our case, ESR versions are not part of the picture -
as our audience is millions of consumers, who will follow the general
release sequence of Firefox, with Auto-update (as an example, I am one of
them, who recently got upgraded to v47).


Thanks

Suril

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
The Firefox release calendar can be found at
https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar
--BDS

Post by Java Dev

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
Actually Chris, my plan was to do this in Firefox 52, not wait for

Firefox

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
53.
--BDS

Thank you for the quick reply. Just to clarify, what is the scheduled
release time frame/date for Firefox version 52 which would block all

NPAPI

Post by Java Dev
plugins? Also, is it still the case that users who need NPAPI support can
switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018?
Best Regards,
Alexandra
_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[Chris Peterson]

I believe Firefox 52 will completely disable NPAPI without any manual
pref override or whitelist (except for Flash).

The Firefox 52 release is planned for March 7, 2017. I updated the
release calendar wiki:

https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar#Future_branch_dates

What is the NPAPI plugin that your organization uses for video
conferencing? Google Hangouts? Does your organization have a solution
for Chrome or Edge? They don't support NPAPI plugins.


chris

Post by Suril Patel
Hi Benjamin (or other associate),
I am trying to follow, but I think I am a little confused by the latest
exchange. We use an NPAPI plugin for Video conferencing, as part of very
large (millions) consumer facing organization.
Per what I understood previously, Version 52, will Beta Release on Jan 23
or Jan 24. The actual general release date - I don't see it, but I am
curious.
1) Will v52 - releasing in Q1 - by default blacklist all NPAPI plugins?
2) Thus, the user if he wishes to use an NPAPI plugin, he will have to
manually go somewhere to "enable" or "whitelist" plugins individually or is
it a setting for all? Any insights here are helpful.
3) What is general release date for v52?
4) I assume v53, which is April 2017 will completely disable NPAPI, with
no manual override.
I want to clarify - in our case, ESR versions are not part of the picture -
as our audience is millions of consumers, who will follow the general
release sequence of Firefox, with Auto-update (as an example, I am one of
them, who recently got upgraded to v47).
Thanks
Suril

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
The Firefox release calendar can be found at
https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar
--BDS

Post by Java Dev

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
Actually Chris, my plan was to do this in Firefox 52, not wait for

Firefox

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
53.
--BDS

Thank you for the quick reply. Just to clarify, what is the scheduled
release time frame/date for Firefox version 52 which would block all

NPAPI

Post by Java Dev
plugins? Also, is it still the case that users who need NPAPI support can
switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018?
Best Regards,
Alexandra
_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[Suril Patel]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your prompt response. We use Vidyo, Inc. plugin, called
VidyoWeb.

In Chrome, they have a browser extension. For Safari, IE, and FF, we
execute NPAPI code - based on browser detection. Edge - we detect and tell
the customer to switch browsers :) This is less than ideal, but WebRTC
does not meet some of our needs - and we see very good video quality at
lower bandwidths using this tech stack.

In any case, we really want to understand the plans and align ourselves.
This is a healthcare use case (I guess I could correspond officially from
my corporate email), with some of our population being the elderly - so we
want things to be easy.


So looking at what you shared - effective March 7th, the patients who's FF
automatically updates would not be able to sign in.

1) Is there a transitional version planned prior to that, where upon
update - all plugins default to a blacklist? In other words, is there
suppose a v51 - where upon update, VidyoWeb gets blacklisted and we need to
send out instructions to patients to unblock or whitelist VidyoWeb? (We
are investigating a long term solution that is not dependent on NPAPI - but
I just want to understand, in case management wants keep the NPAPI track
open until the end - how we can manage messaging to users on the site and
appropriately detect the browser to handle the various scenarios here)


Thanks

Suril

I believe Firefox 52 will completely disable NPAPI without any manual pref
override or whitelist (except for Flash).
The Firefox 52 release is planned for March 7, 2017. I updated the release
https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar#Future_branch_dates
What is the NPAPI plugin that your organization uses for video
conferencing? Google Hangouts? Does your organization have a solution for
Chrome or Edge? They don't support NPAPI plugins.
chris

Post by Suril Patel
Hi Benjamin (or other associate),
I am trying to follow, but I think I am a little confused by the latest
exchange. We use an NPAPI plugin for Video conferencing, as part of very
large (millions) consumer facing organization.
Per what I understood previously, Version 52, will Beta Release on Jan 23
or Jan 24. The actual general release date - I don't see it, but I am
curious.
1) Will v52 - releasing in Q1 - by default blacklist all NPAPI plugins?
2) Thus, the user if he wishes to use an NPAPI plugin, he will have to
manually go somewhere to "enable" or "whitelist" plugins individually or is
it a setting for all? Any insights here are helpful.
3) What is general release date for v52?
4) I assume v53, which is April 2017 will completely disable NPAPI, with
no manual override.
I want to clarify - in our case, ESR versions are not part of the picture -
as our audience is millions of consumers, who will follow the general
release sequence of Firefox, with Auto-update (as an example, I am one of
them, who recently got upgraded to v47).
Thanks
Suril
The Firefox release calendar can be found at

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar
--BDS

Post by Java Dev

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
Actually Chris, my plan was to do this in Firefox 52, not wait for

Firefox

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
53.
--BDS

Thank you for the quick reply. Just to clarify, what is the scheduled
release time frame/date for Firefox version 52 which would block all

NPAPI

Post by Java Dev
plugins? Also, is it still the case that users who need NPAPI support can
switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018?
Best Regards,
Alexandra
_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins
_______________________________________________

dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[Chris Peterson]

hi Suril, Vidyo recently announced a plugin-free, WebRTC version of
VidyoWeb for Firefox and Chrome:

http://www.vidyo.com/company/news-and-events/press-releases/vidyo-delivers-webrtc/

http://www.vidyo.com/products/use/

Mozilla uses Vidyo internally. I have not personally tried the new
WebRTC client, but Mozilla's IT department is testing it and preparing
to deploy it within Mozilla. I usually use the VidyoDesktop standalone
client, but will switch to WebRTC when I have the chance.

chris

Post by Suril Patel
Hi Chris,
Thanks for your prompt response. We use Vidyo, Inc. plugin, called
VidyoWeb.
In Chrome, they have a browser extension. For Safari, IE, and FF, we
execute NPAPI code - based on browser detection. Edge - we detect and tell
the customer to switch browsers :) This is less than ideal, but WebRTC
does not meet some of our needs - and we see very good video quality at
lower bandwidths using this tech stack.
In any case, we really want to understand the plans and align ourselves.
This is a healthcare use case (I guess I could correspond officially from
my corporate email), with some of our population being the elderly - so we
want things to be easy.
So looking at what you shared - effective March 7th, the patients who's FF
automatically updates would not be able to sign in.
1) Is there a transitional version planned prior to that, where upon
update - all plugins default to a blacklist? In other words, is there
suppose a v51 - where upon update, VidyoWeb gets blacklisted and we need to
send out instructions to patients to unblock or whitelist VidyoWeb? (We
are investigating a long term solution that is not dependent on NPAPI - but
I just want to understand, in case management wants keep the NPAPI track
open until the end - how we can manage messaging to users on the site and
appropriately detect the browser to handle the various scenarios here)
Thanks
Suril

I believe Firefox 52 will completely disable NPAPI without any manual pref
override or whitelist (except for Flash).
The Firefox 52 release is planned for March 7, 2017. I updated the release
https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar#Future_branch_dates
What is the NPAPI plugin that your organization uses for video
conferencing? Google Hangouts? Does your organization have a solution for
Chrome or Edge? They don't support NPAPI plugins.
chris

Post by Suril Patel
Hi Benjamin (or other associate),
I am trying to follow, but I think I am a little confused by the latest
exchange. We use an NPAPI plugin for Video conferencing, as part of very
large (millions) consumer facing organization.
Per what I understood previously, Version 52, will Beta Release on Jan 23
or Jan 24. The actual general release date - I don't see it, but I am
curious.
1) Will v52 - releasing in Q1 - by default blacklist all NPAPI plugins?
2) Thus, the user if he wishes to use an NPAPI plugin, he will have to
manually go somewhere to "enable" or "whitelist" plugins individually or is
it a setting for all? Any insights here are helpful.
3) What is general release date for v52?
4) I assume v53, which is April 2017 will completely disable NPAPI, with
no manual override.
I want to clarify - in our case, ESR versions are not part of the picture -
as our audience is millions of consumers, who will follow the general
release sequence of Firefox, with Auto-update (as an example, I am one of
them, who recently got upgraded to v47).
Thanks
Suril
The Firefox release calendar can be found at

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
https://wiki.mozilla.org/RapidRelease/Calendar
--BDS

Post by Java Dev

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
Actually Chris, my plan was to do this in Firefox 52, not wait for

Firefox

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
53.
--BDS

Thank you for the quick reply. Just to clarify, what is the scheduled
release time frame/date for Firefox version 52 which would block all

NPAPI

Post by Java Dev
plugins? Also, is it still the case that users who need NPAPI support can
switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018?
Best Regards,
Alexandra
_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins
_______________________________________________

dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[Chris Peterson]

Post by Suril Patel
So looking at what you shared - effective March 7th, the patients who's FF
automatically updates would not be able to sign in.
1) Is there a transitional version planned prior to that, where upon
update - all plugins default to a blacklist? In other words, is there
suppose a v51 - where upon update, VidyoWeb gets blacklisted and we need to
send out instructions to patients to unblock or whitelist VidyoWeb? (We
are investigating a long term solution that is not dependent on NPAPI - but
I just want to understand, in case management wants keep the NPAPI track
open until the end - how we can manage messaging to users on the site and
appropriately detect the browser to handle the various scenarios here)

As far as I understand, there will not be a transitional Firefox release
that blacklists plugins by default. The plan is to support all plugins
in 51 and then remove them in 52.

If Mozilla does remove NPAPI in Firefox 52 (and WebRTC VidyoWeb is not
an option), you could ask Firefox users to stick with Firefox 51, but
that workaround is probably no simpler than asking them to install
Firefox ESR. The simplest solution would probably be to recommend they
log into Chrome for video conferencing.

btw, if you find problems with VidyoWeb's WebRTC in Firefox that do not
affect Chrome, please let us/me know! We want to make sure that option
works seamlessly for everyone.

chris

[j***@gmail.com]

Please can you confirm the position regarding Silverlight support in 52 ESR?

I had understood from your 23rd Feb post that 52 ESR would support all NPAPI plugins though into 2018, including Silverlight.

If you are now planning to drop support for all but Flash, please can I ask you to reconsider for Silverlight too? Apple have included support for Silverlight in Safari 10 and we have a large userbase Silverlight application for which we would hate to lose Firefox support this early.

The 52 ESR release would be a great way to provide this extended transition time for organisations still dependent on Silverlight.

Thanks,
John

[Benjamin Smedberg]

52 *release* will only allow Flash.

The 52 *ESR* series will continue to allow all current NPAPI plugins (Java,
Silverlight, Unity etc)

--BDS

Post by j***@gmail.com
Please can you confirm the position regarding Silverlight support in 52 ESR?
I had understood from your 23rd Feb post that 52 ESR would support all
NPAPI plugins though into 2018, including Silverlight.
If you are now planning to drop support for all but Flash, please can I
ask you to reconsider for Silverlight too? Apple have included support for
Silverlight in Safari 10 and we have a large userbase Silverlight
application for which we would hate to lose Firefox support this early.
The 52 ESR release would be a great way to provide this extended
transition time for organisations still dependent on Silverlight.
Thanks,
John
_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[NdK ClanBO]

Firefox 52 ESR version will support Java until 2018 Q1. IE on Windows
and Safari on macOS continue to support Java for now, too. I doubt
Microsoft will ever remove Java support from IE, so it will likely be a
long-term option.

Not for Linux-only users :(

BYtE,
Diego.

[p***@gmail.com]

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
52 *release* will only allow Flash.
The 52 *ESR* series will continue to allow all current NPAPI plugins (Java,
Silverlight, Unity etc)
--BDS

How can I - based on browser user agent detection - tell the differnce between a version 52 *release' and a version 52 *ESR* ?
I want to guide the end user depending on the browser capability to support the Java plug-in.
Thanks
Peter

[p***@gmail.com]

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
52 *release* will only allow Flash.
The 52 *ESR* series will continue to allow all current NPAPI plugins (Java,
Silverlight, Unity etc)
--BDS

How can I - based on browser user agent detection - tell the difference between a version 52 *release* and a version 52 *ESR* ?
I want to guide the end user depending on the browser capability to support the Java plug-in.
Thanks
Peter

[p***@gmail.com]

Post by p***@gmail.com

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
52 *release* will only allow Flash.
The 52 *ESR* series will continue to allow all current NPAPI plugins (Java,
Silverlight, Unity etc)
--BDS

How can I - based on browser user agent detection - tell the difference between a version 52 *release* and a version 52 *ESR* ?
I want to guide the end user depending on the browser capability to support the Java plug-in.
Thanks
Peter

I seem to have found the answer in https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1269807#c83 :
"Unfortunately, you can't detect ESR from the server side because both ESR and non-ESR releases have the same User-Agent string."

:-(

/Peter

[Chris Peterson]

Post by p***@gmail.com

Post by p***@gmail.com
How can I - based on browser user agent detection - tell the difference between a version 52 *release* and a version 52 *ESR* ?
I want to guide the end user depending on the browser capability to support the Java plug-in.
Thanks
Peter

"Unfortunately, you can't detect ESR from the server side because both ESR and non-ESR releases have the same User-Agent string."

As noted, there is no officially supported method to differentiate
between the ESR and regular non-ESR versions of Firefox 52 using
User-Agent detection on the server side. However, non-ESR Firefox 52 is
dropping support for Windows XP and Vista, while ESR 52 will continue to
support XP and Vista. So if a User-Agent string says the user is running
Firefox 52 and XP or Vista, then they are running ESR 52.

On the client side, you can make a good guess. If navigator.plugins has
zero or exactly one entry and it is Flash, then there is a good chance
the user is running ESR 52, since many people have other plugins such as
Adobe Acrobat Reader that would show up in ESR 52.

[p***@gmail.com]

Firefox 52 ESR version will support Java until 2018 Q1. IE on Windows
and Safari on macOS continue to support Java for now, too. I doubt
Microsoft will ever remove Java support from IE, so it will likely be a
long-term option.
chris

Would you be able share information - here or in private communication - about how soon Release 52 will take effect in the end user experience?
- What time of the day will Release 52 be released in Central Europe Time zone (CET)?
- What will trigger the auto-update to v52 by end user (download/install/run) - Process in background? Launching Firefox? Opening new tab? Refresh?
- Is there any server side mechanism from you that will delay the update (by days/weeks) beyond the end user trigger to reduce the peak load on your server?

We are running a web service based on a Java applet, and we currently see some 10k unique users per day using Firefox v50 (90% Windows, 10% Mac) and a few v49, v48 and v47.
It is now clear that we will not be able to replace the Java applet in time before the release of Firefox v52 (March 7).
We have to prepare our support team for helping our Firefox users when Java stops working for them because of update to v52.
FYI: Our user agent statistics from December 2016 (total) shows v50.0 and practically no v50.1 though v50.1 was released in mid-December.

Thanks
Peter

[Chris Peterson]

Post by p***@gmail.com
Would you be able share information - here or in private communication - about how soon Release 52 will take effect in the end user experience?
- What time of the day will Release 52 be released in Central Europe Time zone (CET)?
- What will trigger the auto-update to v52 by end user (download/install/run) - Process in background? Launching Firefox? Opening new tab? Refresh?
- Is there any server side mechanism from you that will delay the update (by days/weeks) beyond the end user trigger to reduce the peak load on your server?

March 7 is the official release date for Firefox 52, but Mozilla uses
server-side throttling to slowly update only a few thousand users over
the first week or so. If we don't see any new bug reports from those
users, we unthrottle the update and all other users should automatically
receive the update within 24 hours of the next time they launch Firefox.
(Firefox pings the update server every 24 hours.)

Post by p***@gmail.com
We are running a web service based on a Java applet, and we currently see some 10k unique users per day using Firefox v50 (90% Windows, 10% Mac) and a few v49, v48 and v47.
It is now clear that we will not be able to replace the Java applet in time before the release of Firefox v52 (March 7).
We have to prepare our support team for helping our Firefox users when Java stops working for them because of update to v52.
FYI: Our user agent statistics from December 2016 (total) shows v50.0 and practically no v50.1 though v50.1 was released in mid-December.

New updates may get downloaded but not installed if users don't restart
their browser periodically. Also, there are some long-standing Firefox
bugs that cause some users to get "stuck" on older Firefox versions.
Anti-virus software can cause update problems, too.

Options for using Java after Firefox 52 release are switching to the
Firefox "ESR" version (Extended Support Release [1]) or using IE on
Windows and Safari on Mac.

[1] https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/organizations/

[p***@gmail.com]

We appreciate your fast and detailed answer – it’s mission critical to us.
We have identified the same workaround options (IE and FF ESR) but in our experience, Safari is not a practical alternative for using Java. It requires an extra setting per web site – which is complicated to the average user – to allow write access to the file system for Java. Moreover it seems like Apple has now blocked that since Safari v 10.0.2 (released December 13, 2016), which is included in MAC OS updates.
So for our Mac (and Linux btw) users, Firefox ESR remains the only option for a browser with Java support.
/Peter

[p***@gmail.com]

Is it a fair assumption that you will not 'unthrottle' Firefox 52 before business hours (PST) on Monday, March 13 ?
Thanks,
Peter

[Benjamin Smedberg]

No, that is not a fair assumption. We sometimes unthrottle as soon as
Thursday or Friday of release week, if there are no alerts from the
incoming data.

--BDS

Post by p***@gmail.com
Is it a fair assumption that you will not 'unthrottle' Firefox 52 before
business hours (PST) on Monday, March 13 ?
Thanks,
Peter
_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[m***@gmail.com]

Post by Chris Peterson

Post by Java Dev
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.

hi Alexandra, our tentative schedule is to remove NPAPI support in
Firefox 53 (which will be in the Firefox Nightly channel in November
2016 and released in April 2017). These versions or dates are not
official or set in stone. They could conceivably be postponed if we need
to continue supporting NPAPI for some reason.
The next Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) version is 52 and will
receive security updates for a year. By removing NPAPI in Firefox 53,
the release *after* the ESR, users that need NPAPI support can continue
to switch to Firefox ESR 52 and keep using NPAPI plugins until May 2018.
chris

[m***@gmail.com]

Post by Java Dev
Hello,
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.
We want our users to use Firefox instead of other browsers, especially since we have had to run through some hoops to get our corporate clients to switch from IE to Firefox for our web applications. For some reason, some corporations are resistant to running browsers other than IE and it took some convincing on our part.
Your response is greatly appreciated. We would prefer our user community still use Firefox and not switch to IE, while we are working through converting our web products to web based technology and away from the Java plugin. We are concerned that if they switch to IE again, while we work to replace Java applets, their IT departments might not approve going back again to Firefox.
Best Regards,
Alexandra
P.S. If you are interested, more information about our company and products is available at www.7thonline.com.

Hi,
I have an applet the communicates with client serial ports using https://github.com/scream3r/java-simple-serial-connector, if I sign the the jar and I use Java Web Start the applet has the permissions to communicate.
The favorite browser of our clients is Firefox so I would re write the app.
In Chrome I solved with chrome app end extension using https://developer.chrome.com/apps/serial and it runs very well but in firefox there'is nothing like this.

My questions are:
1) something like chrome.serial in the future of firefox?
2) now what's the better solution?
3) What's the better moments to re write my app, considering the roadmap of Web Extension?

Thanks
Marco

[Benjamin Smedberg]

At this point I don't think we have a plan to implement chrome.serial.
However, we are finishing up the implementation of native messaging (
https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/nativeMessaging) and it should be
relatively straightforward to build a serial-port bridge on top of native
messaging.

We'd also accept a webextensions implementation of chrome.serial if you
want to contribute it! I will happily introduce you to the webextensions
engineering team who can help with mentoring and reviews.

--BDS

Post by Java Dev

Post by Java Dev
Hello,
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web

products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace
Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and
several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the
"drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.

Post by Java Dev
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to

confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we
would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to
provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time
(disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.

Post by Java Dev
We want our users to use Firefox instead of other browsers, especially

since we have had to run through some hoops to get our corporate clients to
switch from IE to Firefox for our web applications. For some reason, some
corporations are resistant to running browsers other than IE and it took
some convincing on our part.

Post by Java Dev
Your response is greatly appreciated. We would prefer our user community

still use Firefox and not switch to IE, while we are working through
converting our web products to web based technology and away from the Java
plugin. We are concerned that if they switch to IE again, while we work to
replace Java applets, their IT departments might not approve going back
again to Firefox.

Post by Java Dev
Best Regards,
Alexandra
P.S. If you are interested, more information about our company and

products is available at www.7thonline.com.
Hi,
I have an applet the communicates with client serial ports using
https://github.com/scream3r/java-simple-serial-connector, if I sign the
the jar and I use Java Web Start the applet has the permissions to
communicate.
The favorite browser of our clients is Firefox so I would re write the app.
In Chrome I solved with chrome app end extension using
https://developer.chrome.com/apps/serial and it runs very well but in
firefox there'is nothing like this.
1) something like chrome.serial in the future of firefox?
2) now what's the better solution?
3) What's the better moments to re write my app, considering the roadmap of Web Extension?
Thanks
Marco
_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[m***@gmail.com]

Post by Benjamin Smedberg
At this point I don't think we have a plan to implement chrome.serial.
However, we are finishing up the implementation of native messaging (
https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/nativeMessaging) and it should be
relatively straightforward to build a serial-port bridge on top of native
messaging.
We'd also accept a webextensions implementation of chrome.serial if you
want to contribute it! I will happily introduce you to the webextensions
engineering team who can help with mentoring and reviews.
--BDS

Post by Java Dev

Post by Java Dev
Hello,
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web

products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace
Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and
several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the
"drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.

Post by Java Dev
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to

confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we
would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to
provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time
(disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.

Post by Java Dev
We want our users to use Firefox instead of other browsers, especially

since we have had to run through some hoops to get our corporate clients to
switch from IE to Firefox for our web applications. For some reason, some
corporations are resistant to running browsers other than IE and it took
some convincing on our part.

Post by Java Dev
Your response is greatly appreciated. We would prefer our user community

still use Firefox and not switch to IE, while we are working through
converting our web products to web based technology and away from the Java
plugin. We are concerned that if they switch to IE again, while we work to
replace Java applets, their IT departments might not approve going back
again to Firefox.

Post by Java Dev
Best Regards,
Alexandra
P.S. If you are interested, more information about our company and

products is available at www.7thonline.com.
Hi,
I have an applet the communicates with client serial ports using
https://github.com/scream3r/java-simple-serial-connector, if I sign the
the jar and I use Java Web Start the applet has the permissions to
communicate.
The favorite browser of our clients is Firefox so I would re write the app.
In Chrome I solved with chrome app end extension using
https://developer.chrome.com/apps/serial and it runs very well but in
firefox there'is nothing like this.
1) something like chrome.serial in the future of firefox?
2) now what's the better solution?
3) What's the better moments to re write my app, considering the roadmap
of Web Extension?
Thanks
Marco
_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

Dear Benjamin,
we are very interested in the development of the serial API for firefox browser. Could you give us some suggestions on how to start to develop it? What are the requirements to contribute in this project?

Thank you very much
Marco Matta
Pegaso s.r.l

[m***@gmail.com]

Post by Java Dev
Hello,
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.
We want our users to use Firefox instead of other browsers, especially since we have had to run through some hoops to get our corporate clients to switch from IE to Firefox for our web applications. For some reason, some corporations are resistant to running browsers other than IE and it took some convincing on our part.
Your response is greatly appreciated. We would prefer our user community still use Firefox and not switch to IE, while we are working through converting our web products to web based technology and away from the Java plugin. We are concerned that if they switch to IE again, while we work to replace Java applets, their IT departments might not approve going back again to Firefox.
Best Regards,
Alexandra
P.S. If you are interested, more information about our company and products is available at www.7thonline.com.

[m***@gmail.com]

Post by Java Dev
Hello,
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.
We want our users to use Firefox instead of other browsers, especially since we have had to run through some hoops to get our corporate clients to switch from IE to Firefox for our web applications. For some reason, some corporations are resistant to running browsers other than IE and it took some convincing on our part.
Your response is greatly appreciated. We would prefer our user community still use Firefox and not switch to IE, while we are working through converting our web products to web based technology and away from the Java plugin. We are concerned that if they switch to IE again, while we work to replace Java applets, their IT departments might not approve going back again to Firefox.
Best Regards,
Alexandra
P.S. If you are interested, more information about our company and products is available at www.7thonline.com.

[d***@gmail.com]

Hi

Our company has also a Java Applet (of course with NPAPI) in place.

according to this page: https://support.mozilla.org/t5/Problems-with-add-ons-plugins-or/Why-do-Java-Silverlight-Adobe-Acrobat-and-other-plugins-no/ta-p/31069
Also the ESR 52 64bit Version is blocking Java.

As far as I understood this posts here and the Information:

on 64bit both 52 Versions (*release* and *ESR*) are blocking Java Applets
on 32bit only the *release* 52 is blocking Java.

Is that correct?

Additional is/was there any 64bit Version which is supporting Java NPAPI?

best regards
Daniel

[Chris Peterson]

Post by d***@gmail.com
Our company has also a Java Applet (of course with NPAPI) in place.
according to this page: https://support.mozilla.org/t5/Problems-with-add-ons-plugins-or/Why-do-Java-Silverlight-Adobe-Acrobat-and-other-plugins-no/ta-p/31069
Also the ESR 52 64bit Version is blocking Java.
on 64bit both 52 Versions (*release* and *ESR*) are blocking Java Applets
on 32bit only the *release* 52 is blocking Java.
Is that correct?

That's correct. Flash and Silverlight are the only 64-bit NPAPI plugins
that we supported with 64-bit Firefox. Java is allowed on 32-bit ESR and
blocked on 32-bit release.

If switching from 32-bit Firefox to ESR is too cumbersome for your
company, you might consider "jumping into" IE just when you need to open
your Java applet. IE will continue to support NPAPI plugins for a long time.

chris

[a***@gmail.com]

Post by Java Dev
Hello,
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.
We want our users to use Firefox instead of other browsers, especially since we have had to run through some hoops to get our corporate clients to switch from IE to Firefox for our web applications. For some reason, some corporations are resistant to running browsers other than IE and it took some convincing on our part.
Your response is greatly appreciated. We would prefer our user community still use Firefox and not switch to IE, while we are working through converting our web products to web based technology and away from the Java plugin. We are concerned that if they switch to IE again, while we work to replace Java applets, their IT departments might not approve going back again to Firefox.
Best Regards,
Alexandra
P.S. If you are interested, more information about our company and products is available at www.7thonline.com.

[j***@shaw.ca]

Post by Java Dev
Hello,
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.
We want our users to use Firefox instead of other browsers, especially since we have had to run through some hoops to get our corporate clients to switch from IE to Firefox for our web applications. For some reason, some corporations are resistant to running browsers other than IE and it took some convincing on our part.
Your response is greatly appreciated. We would prefer our user community still use Firefox and not switch to IE, while we are working through converting our web products to web based technology and away from the Java plugin. We are concerned that if they switch to IE again, while we work to replace Java applets, their IT departments might not approve going back again to Firefox.
Best Regards,
Alexandra
P.S. If you are interested, more information about our company and products is available at www.7thonline.com.

My website uses Java to view my cameras, both with Trendnet Cloudview and Amcrest. What are we supposed to do now except avoid Firefox?

[Christian Rottler]

You might want to switch from its Rapid Release (commonly just known as
"Firefox") to the Extended Support Release (ESR) which will continue to
support NPAPI-based plugins until next year / around the end of June 2018
according to my schedule.

This should give you some more time to look for an alternative.

Regards,
Chris

Post by Java Dev

Post by Java Dev
Hello,
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web

products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace
Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and
several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the
"drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.

Post by Java Dev
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to

confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we
would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to
provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time
(disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.

Post by Java Dev
We want our users to use Firefox instead of other browsers, especially

since we have had to run through some hoops to get our corporate clients to
switch from IE to Firefox for our web applications. For some reason, some
corporations are resistant to running browsers other than IE and it took
some convincing on our part.

Post by Java Dev
Your response is greatly appreciated. We would prefer our user community

still use Firefox and not switch to IE, while we are working through
converting our web products to web based technology and away from the Java
plugin. We are concerned that if they switch to IE again, while we work to
replace Java applets, their IT departments might not approve going back
again to Firefox.

Post by Java Dev
Best Regards,
Alexandra
P.S. If you are interested, more information about our company and

products is available at www.7thonline.com.
My website uses Java to view my cameras, both with Trendnet Cloudview and
Amcrest. What are we supposed to do now except avoid Firefox?
_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[Peter Weinstein]

Hi



I'm looking for Webextensions help.





I have a Webextension which launches a native app using

the chrome.runtime.sendNativeMessage(...) API.



This extension normally invokes an already running process to get some

work done; noramlly the end result is to download a document from a

server and start a Microsoft Office Application (e.g. WinWord.exe) to

edit/review.



The extension returns immediately.



However, there is a problem. If the long-running application is not

actually running, then it is started. But when the extension gets a

response message, it kills the native application, and every process

created by it.



This is unexpected (by me); Chrome behavior differs.



Is this expected behavior by you? Is it documented? Is there a

mechanism for my native application to launch a task which continues

to run after the native application has returned to Firefox, and

exited?

[Benjamin Smedberg]

This is not the right list for this question: it should be asked on the
dev-***@mozilla.org mailing list. However I will give you a link to the
documentation which includes a specific warning about this behavior:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Add-ons/WebExtensions/Native_messaging#Closing_the_native_app

--BDS

Post by Peter Weinstein
Hi
I'm looking for Webextensions help.
I have a Webextension which launches a native app using
the chrome.runtime.sendNativeMessage(...) API.
This extension normally invokes an already running process to get some
work done; noramlly the end result is to download a document from a
server and start a Microsoft Office Application (e.g. WinWord.exe) to
edit/review.
The extension returns immediately.
However, there is a problem. If the long-running application is not
actually running, then it is started. But when the extension gets a
response message, it kills the native application, and every process
created by it.
This is unexpected (by me); Chrome behavior differs.
Is this expected behavior by you? Is it documented? Is there a
mechanism for my native application to launch a task which continues
to run after the native application has returned to Firefox, and
exited?
_______________________________________________
dev-tech-plugins mailing list
https://lists.mozilla.org/listinfo/dev-tech-plugins

[l***@gmail.com]

Post by Christian Rottler
You might want to switch from its Rapid Release (commonly just known as
"Firefox") to the Extended Support Release (ESR) which will continue to
support NPAPI-based plugins until next year / around the end of June 2018
according to my schedule.

In México the Tax Administration Service (SAT, on Spanish) uses Java for their platform for all the tax payers, i always used/recommend Firefox for clients in order to use their services. Now, aside from the ESR i believe we are confined to IE.

Post by Christian Rottler
This should give you some more time to look for an alternative.

It does, thanks.

Post by Christian Rottler
Regards,
Chris

Best,
Luis

[p***@gmail.com]

Post by Java Dev
Hello,
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.
We want our users to use Firefox instead of other browsers, especially since we have had to run through some hoops to get our corporate clients to switch from IE to Firefox for our web applications. For some reason, some corporations are resistant to running browsers other than IE and it took some convincing on our part.
Your response is greatly appreciated. We would prefer our user community still use Firefox and not switch to IE, while we are working through converting our web products to web based technology and away from the Java plugin. We are concerned that if they switch to IE again, while we work to replace Java applets, their IT departments might not approve going back again to Firefox.
Best Regards,
Alexandra
P.S. If you are interested, more information about our company and products is available at www.7thonline.com.

[s***@gmail.com]

I am using Firefox 53.0.2 32bit, how can I enable javascript add-on? I wish to digitally sign the e-tendering sites which are not opened anyway the message on the screen says- "Your connection is not secure. The owner of eprocuremes.gov.in has configured their website improperly. To protect your information from being stolen, Firefox has not connected to this website."

Give me the solution.

Thanks
Suresh Acharya

[Chris Peterson]

Post by s***@gmail.com
I am using Firefox 53.0.2 32bit, how can I enable javascript add-on? I wish to digitally sign the e-tendering sites which are not opened anyway the message on the screen says- "Your connection is not secure. The owner of eprocuremes.gov.in has configured their website improperly. To protect your information from being stolen, Firefox has not connected to this website."

hi Suresh, the error message you are seeing is not a JavaScript or Java
plugin problem. The website eprocuremes.gov.in uses a security
certificate was issued by a certificate authority company called
"Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited" and Firefox
doesn't recognize this certificate authority.

For some reason this certificate authority is recognized by other web
browsers, including Chrome and Edge. You can use one of those browsers
when you need to access the eprocuremes.gov.in website.

chris

[g***@gmail.com]

Post by Java Dev
Hello,
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.
We want our users to use Firefox instead of other browsers, especially since we have had to run through some hoops to get our corporate clients to switch from IE to Firefox for our web applications. For some reason, some corporations are resistant to running browsers other than IE and it took some convincing on our part.
Your response is greatly appreciated. We would prefer our user community still use Firefox and not switch to IE, while we are working through converting our web products to web based technology and away from the Java plugin. We are concerned that if they switch to IE again, while we work to replace Java applets, their IT departments might not approve going back again to Firefox.
Best Regards,
Alexandra
P.S. If you are interested, more information about our company and products is available at www.7thonline.com.

[g***@gmail.com]

Post by Java Dev
Hello,
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.
We want our users to use Firefox instead of other browsers, especially since we have had to run through some hoops to get our corporate clients to switch from IE to Firefox for our web applications. For some reason, some corporations are resistant to running browsers other than IE and it took some convincing on our part.
Your response is greatly appreciated. We would prefer our user community still use Firefox and not switch to IE, while we are working through converting our web products to web based technology and away from the Java plugin. We are concerned that if they switch to IE again, while we work to replace Java applets, their IT departments might not approve going back again to Firefox.
Best Regards,
Alexandra
P.S. If you are interested, more information about our company and products is available at www.7thonline.com.

[j***@gmail.com]

Post by Java Dev
Hello,
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.
We want our users to use Firefox instead of other browsers, especially since we have had to run through some hoops to get our corporate clients to switch from IE to Firefox for our web applications. For some reason, some corporations are resistant to running browsers other than IE and it took some convincing on our part.
Your response is greatly appreciated. We would prefer our user community still use Firefox and not switch to IE, while we are working through converting our web products to web based technology and away from the Java plugin. We are concerned that if they switch to IE again, while we work to replace Java applets, their IT departments might not approve going back again to Firefox.
Best Regards,
Alexandra
P.S. If you are interested, more information about our company and products is available at www.7thonline.com.

[v***@gmail.com]

Post by Java Dev
Hello,
Hope all is well. The company I work for uses Java applets for our web products and we are currently planning our release schedules to replace Java applet tech, as it will affect many users in our product community and several products. As such, our dev team would like to better understand the "drop dead date" of when the Java plugin will stop working in Firefox.
We are aware that the announcement was for end of 2016, but wanted to confirm if there is a more specific date other than 12/31/2016. Also, we would like to know if Firefox will follow a similar path as Chrome to provide a way to still manually enable the Java plugin for some time (disabled by default), perhaps even past end of 2016.
We want our users to use Firefox instead of other browsers, especially since we have had to run through some hoops to get our corporate clients to switch from IE to Firefox for our web applications. For some reason, some corporations are resistant to running browsers other than IE and it took some convincing on our part.
Your response is greatly appreciated. We would prefer our user community still use Firefox and not switch to IE, while we are working through converting our web products to web based technology and away from the Java plugin. We are concerned that if they switch to IE again, while we work to replace Java applets, their IT departments might not approve going back again to Firefox.
Best Regards,
Alexandra
P.S. If you are interested, more information about our company and products is available at www.7thonline.com.