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I'm curious - does it automatically get the latest version of FF when it's released for desktop/Android? And does it support all of the functionality that come

I'm curious - does it automatically get the latest version of FF when it's released for desktop/Android? And does it support all of the functionality that comes with it? i.e. will it now have the asm.js optimisations and similar?

diggan 13y ago
It's not running Firefox per se, it's running a OS called Boot 2 Gecko[0] and will probably not be updated simultaneously as desktop/mobile Firefox. Yeah, it supports almost the same functionality with some additional things (like WebAPI[1], APIs for hardware access) [0] https://wiki.mozilla.org/B2G https://wiki.mozilla.org/B2G [1] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/WebAPI https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/WebAPI
- AndrewDucker 13y ago
  Yes, but Gecko is the engine of Firefox, so I was curious whether the version of Gecko (and of the JS engines) are kept in sync.
  - asadotzler 13y ago
    That depends on what you call "in sync". Firefox browsers and Firefox OS share the Gecko engine but the browsers are currently a few versions ahead of the OS because it takes longer to get all the ducks in a row for a new mobile phone release than a browser update.
Yoric 13y ago
I'm not sure about asm.js/OdinMonkey. I believe that FirefoxOS 1.0 does not have it, but that FirefoxOS 1.1 (which should be available as a free over-the-air update) has it. More generally, FirefoxOS does not automatically get the latest version of Gecko, because the process for mobile operating systems is more complex. The operating system must first pass certification by (if I recall) both the constructors and the operators. This operation is both long and costly, so it is probably impossible to follow the Firefox desktop/Android 6 week release cycle for the time being. However, if I had to guess, I would assume that FirefoxOS will receive about one big update every few months, with all the new features and optimizations of Gecko. I know, for instance, that some of the optimizations I have added recently to Gecko have missed the release train for the next version of FirefoxOS (I believe that's still 1.1) but should be part of the release after that.
- mcintyre1994 13y ago
  Can you give an idea of how you expect that to work compared with Android? Given that Firefox OS devices seem to be cheap and low end, how likely are constructors and operators to perform a "long and costly" process to upgrade them regularly? Cheap and low end Android devices have terrible support from both, even for upgrades without new hardware requirements, is there any indication that they will better support similar Firefox OS devices?
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
  - shardling 13y ago
    I believe that in a previous thread, FirefoxOS devs were hopeful that the way the OS is "layered" will make this less painful -- that upgrading Gecko should be much easier than upgrading Android versions, because it wouldn't introduce driver issues etc. Updating the underlying kernel would be more arduous.
- fzzzy 13y ago
  1.1 is still the b2g18 branch, so no asm.js. 1.2 will be the version that pulls from master (gecko 26 I think?) and will have asm.js.
  - Yoric 13y ago
    Oh, it's 26? In that case, they have not missed my recent I/O optimizations :)
ndesaulniers 13y ago
> does it automatically get the latest version of FF when it's released for desktop/Android? Firefox OS is its own Operating System, so it won't be "released for desktop/Android." The initial versions was forked from gecko 18 so it's missing many SpiderMonkey optimizations such as the Baseline Compiler, Type Inference, Odin Monkey, and Ion Monkey. Luckily, updates (or building from source) have these and add quite an improvement! Whenever I updated my iphone, I felt every update left it slower. Now imaging upgrading your phone it it getting faster!

diggan 13y ago

It's not running Firefox per se, it's running a OS called Boot 2 Gecko[0] and will probably not be updated simultaneously as desktop/mobile Firefox. Yeah, it supports almost the same functionality with some additional things (like WebAPI[1], APIs for hardware access) [0] https://wiki.mozilla.org/B2G https://wiki.mozilla.org/B2G [1] https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/WebAPI https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/WebAPI

AndrewDucker 13y ago
Yes, but Gecko is the engine of Firefox, so I was curious whether the version of Gecko (and of the JS engines) are kept in sync.
- asadotzler 13y ago
  That depends on what you call "in sync". Firefox browsers and Firefox OS share the Gecko engine but the browsers are currently a few versions ahead of the OS because it takes longer to get all the ducks in a row for a new mobile phone release than a browser update.

Yoric 13y ago

I'm not sure about asm.js/OdinMonkey. I believe that FirefoxOS 1.0 does not have it, but that FirefoxOS 1.1 (which should be available as a free over-the-air update) has it. More generally, FirefoxOS does not automatically get the latest version of Gecko, because the process for mobile operating systems is more complex. The operating system must first pass certification by (if I recall) both the constructors and the operators. This operation is both long and costly, so it is probably impossible to follow the Firefox desktop/Android 6 week release cycle for the time being. However, if I had to guess, I would assume that FirefoxOS will receive about one big update every few months, with all the new features and optimizations of Gecko. I know, for instance, that some of the optimizations I have added recently to Gecko have missed the release train for the next version of FirefoxOS (I believe that's still 1.1) but should be part of the release after that.

mcintyre1994 13y ago
Can you give an idea of how you expect that to work compared with Android? Given that Firefox OS devices seem to be cheap and low end, how likely are constructors and operators to perform a "long and costly" process to upgrade them regularly? Cheap and low end Android devices have terrible support from both, even for upgrades without new hardware requirements, is there any indication that they will better support similar Firefox OS devices?
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- shardling 13y ago
  I believe that in a previous thread, FirefoxOS devs were hopeful that the way the OS is "layered" will make this less painful -- that upgrading Gecko should be much easier than upgrading Android versions, because it wouldn't introduce driver issues etc. Updating the underlying kernel would be more arduous.
fzzzy 13y ago
1.1 is still the b2g18 branch, so no asm.js. 1.2 will be the version that pulls from master (gecko 26 I think?) and will have asm.js.
- Yoric 13y ago
  Oh, it's 26? In that case, they have not missed my recent I/O optimizations :)

ndesaulniers 13y ago

> does it automatically get the latest version of FF when it's released for desktop/Android? Firefox OS is its own Operating System, so it won't be "released for desktop/Android." The initial versions was forked from gecko 18 so it's missing many SpiderMonkey optimizations such as the Baseline Compiler, Type Inference, Odin Monkey, and Ion Monkey. Luckily, updates (or building from source) have these and add quite an improvement! Whenever I updated my iphone, I felt every update left it slower. Now imaging upgrading your phone it it getting faster!