Firebug is back in Firefox 53.0.3!?

[L]

"Inspect Element with Firebug" is back in the context menu (and so is the icon up above) and low and behold it works :-)

What is going on and why is the internet not raving about this blessed news? Or is this just a blip?

I know there was a way to continue using Firebug by installing a compatibility version of Firefox, but I did not do this, accepting that I would at some point have to get used to the new tool anyway.

Eagerly awaiting news,

L

[Sebastian Zartner]

That you see Inspect Element with Firebug again means that the preference browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2 is set to false for you. See my related answer on Stack Overflow.
As far as I know, this doesn't happen by itself, so it might be that it happened with an update of Firefox or another add-on or you turned off multiprocess Firefox manually.

Please note that Firebug will definitely stop working once Firefox 57 is released, which will happen in November this year. With that version Firefox restricts its add-on support to WebExtensions - and Firebug is based on another (then incompatible) technology.

So, you're definitely better off getting used to the Firefox DevTools already. I've written a migration guide some time ago to make the live of Firebug users a little easier.

Sebastian

[L]

Hi Sebastian,

Thank you for the explanation, however, browser.tabs.remote.autostart.2 is set to true, rather than false as you suggest. Status = user set, but I did not change this manually or install/modify any add ons recently (for quite a long time actually). Additionally none of my other active add-ons were updated since Jan 2017 and Firebug was missing after this time. Firebug itself was last updated Mar 1, 2017, but I expect it did not make the change itself since it has accepted its fate (also I am pretty sure it was missing after March since I only recently noticed its resurrection).

I do notice that Adblock Plus, which I have had disabled for years, states that it was last updated June 7, 2017. Are disabled add-ons updated automatically and can they change settings?

A bit of a mystery. Sorry to cause alarm. I did not realise the multiprocess function could be controlled via the configuration because I recall seeing a compatibility version of Firefox, which I understood to be for this purpose.

Thank you again and for providing the useful links.

L

[Sebastian Zartner]

I just realized my information might be misleading. To clarify, the Firebug button is still there even when the multiprocess functionality is enabled. Though, instead of opening Firebug, it opens the Firefox DevTools with a Firebug theme.

Having said that, the Inspect Element with Firebug option should be hidden in Firebug 2.0.19 when the multiprocess feature is enabled. It it looks like it is somehow not enabled for you even with the aforementioned preference set to true.

Btw. it is normal that the status of that preference says user set. User set actually means "changed", because Mozilla is switching that preference gradually for more and more users with every release. I.e. the default value is still false, though it gets set to true by browser updates.

Sebastian

[Lawrence San]

"Inspect Element with Firebug" has mysteriously reappeared (in the contextual menu) for me too. It brings up Firebug, not "the Firefox DevTools with a Firebug theme".

However, the Firebug window that it brings up is still partially broken. The HTML tab works (I can edit something and see the changes take effect). But the Console is still completely broken; even if "enabled" it remains blank. I haven't bothered trying the debugger.

I don't know why Firebug reappeared in the contextual menu, but this reminds me of the death spasms of an animal that's neither completely alive nor completely dead.

[Sebastian Zartner]

On another PC I can reproduce this issue. Reading through https://wiki.mozilla.org/Electrolysis I saw that some add-ons (like Firebug) may deactivate the multiprocess feature automatically. That page says that you can force-enable multiprocess Firefox by adding the preference browser.tabs.remote.autostart and setting it to true. There's a warning, though, that this is not encouraged, but that warning dates back a year, so conditions may have changed already.
Setting it to true worked for me, at least.

Sebastian