Handling of multiple different versions

[kevin-stuart]

Output of brew config

N/A

Output of brew doctor

N/A

Description of issue

It used to be very simple to install multiple different editions of Firefox by installing firefox, firefox-developer-edition, firefox-esr etc - now there are firefox@developer-edition, firefox@esr - but it seems those all replace a single installation. How can we install new multiple parallel Firefox installations now?

Relevant casks

firefox

[gromgit]

now there are firefox@developer-edition, firefox@esr - but it seems those all replace a single installation

That's not strictly true.

$ grep -F " app " $(brew --repo homebrew/cask)/Casks/f/firefox*.rb 
/opt/homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-cask/Casks/f/firefox.rb:  app "Firefox.app"
/opt/homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-cask/Casks/f/[email protected]:  app "Firefox.app"
/opt/homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-cask/Casks/f/[email protected]:  app "Firefox.app"
/opt/homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-cask/Casks/f/[email protected]:  app "Firefox Developer Edition.app"
/opt/homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-cask/Casks/f/[email protected]:  app "Firefox.app"
/opt/homebrew/Library/Taps/homebrew/homebrew-cask/Casks/f/[email protected]:  app "Firefox Nightly.app"

so you can have the devs and nightlies installed against any of the others without conflict. You can also use brew install --appdir <dir> ... to install the other conflicting casks in seperate Application directories, but if you want them all to coexist in /Applications, you'll have to file PRs to rename the targets accordingly. For instance, the app stanza in the ESR cask could be changed to:

app "Firefox.app", target: "Firefox ESR.app"

but you'd have to justify to the Homebrew maintainers why you want to rename every user's ESR installation, while possibly breaking other stuff that assumes a working "Firefox.app" that no longer exists. (Note that these app names were decided by Mozilla devs, not Homebrew.)

[kevin-stuart]

So if I understand you correctly, I can use brew install --cask firefox@esr --appdir "/Applications/FireFox ESR.app" to install a new FireFox installation, keeping my regular FireFox installation and it will work? Before I could just do brew install --cask firefox-esr, which I found easier to understand and I had not discovered your tip in the documentation.

If I understand you correctly, stanard, beta, cn, and esr share the same name, but Nightly/Developer-Edidtion are always separate currently and do not need the appdir option when installing?

[kevin-stuart]

It might have been helpful to clear up my limited understanding by telling me what you think I think what it does and what it does instead?

I can try looking into the custom tap route, but this is not too easy for me seeing that I sort lack knowledge of how homebrew works; ideally I could just copy the formula and change the target in the file, but for that I would need to figure out where I locate the formula from GitHub and where to put it for my usage. I'll probably try later.

Any way I look at it, the old way variantes of FireFox where superior in my mind: I just did a brew install --cask firefox-esr and that would have been it? I don't understand why it was changed - to what benefit?

[gromgit]

It might have been helpful to clear up my limited understanding by telling me what you think I think what it does and what it does instead?

Based on brew install --cask firefox@esr --appdir "/Applications/FireFox ESR.app", I think you thought --appdir let you rename the app while installing it. The relevant brew install --help output:

      --appdir                     Target location for Applications (default:
                                   /Applications).

doesn't suggest that at all.

Any way I look at it, the old way variantes of FireFox where superior in my mind: I just did a brew install --cask firefox-esr and that would have been it?

Not so. As far as I can tell, homebrew/cask/firefox@esr is simply homebrew/cask-versions/firefox-esr migrated over to mainline Homebrew cask repo. In fact, if I'm not mistaken the old location required you to first brew tap homebrew/cask-versions, an extra step that's no longer necessary. The name of the cask just changed to note that this is a different version of mainline Firefox, not a potential fork by a third party.

Also, firefox-esr has always conflicted with the other Firefox casks I mentioned earlier, see https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-cask-versions/blob/9554db393a0016a7151cd92d34d682e0a998a808/Casks/firefox-esr.rb#L81-L84. Migration to mainline Homebrew hasn't changed any of that, so aside from the usual cask upgrades and the new location, exactly nothing else is different about the Firefox ESR cask.

[kevin-stuart]

Hmm, I think I used firefox-developer-edition, then wanted to install esr, then noticed that the firefox-esr version was gone and firefox@esr replaced it. And yeah, I think I did tap versions. From what I got, I guess I could still use the firefox@nightly variant. Thanks for pointing this out. I really wish there was a simpler way to override the installed app name instead of the dir. But I guess the install would maybe then need to keep more state?

Is it correct to assume that modifying app "Firefox.app" to app "Firefox ESR.app" in [email protected] would have the desired effect? But how would I handle this file if I have it locally without filing some kind of PR to just check it locall for me? And what about the name not affecting the upstream name? I guess I'm trying to figure out the instructions from https://docs.brew.sh/How-to-Create-and-Maintain-a-Tap to get this.

[SMillerDev]

Is it correct to assume that modifying app "Firefox.app" to app "Firefox ESR.app" in [email protected] would have the desired effect?

No, because that needs to match what Mozilla calls it. https://github.com/orgs/Homebrew/discussions/5851#discussioncomment-11760974 has the indication on what to do.

[gromgit]

Is it correct to assume that modifying app "Firefox.app" to app "Firefox ESR.app" in [email protected] would have the desired effect?

No. As I mentioned in my very first comment, the correct incantation would be:

app "Firefox.app", target: "Firefox ESR.app"

which basically says "the app bundle in the Mozilla installer is named Firefox.app, but we want to rename it to Firefox ESR.app". See here for full details on the app stanza.

In general, Homebrew respects upstream app names, especially with popular apps like Firefox that other apps can be expected to launch. Imagine the user confusion when an app says "Firefox not found", or launching mainline Firefox when you wanted it to use the ESR version, just because it's looking specifically for Firefox.app.

But how would I handle this file if I have it locally without filing some kind of PR to just check it locall for me?

Taps are just Git repositories. brew tap-new just creates a local Git repo with the necessary support files, it doesn't automatically "bind" that repo to an online repo of any sort. You can add all sorts of formulae and casks to a local tap without ever having to upload them to a public Git server; you just need to learn how to use git to manage these files over time. (It would also be a good idea to rename any formulae/casks when copying them over, to avoid Homebrew and you getting confused over casks in multiple taps with the same name.)