[Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

Hi,

there is a package called AdBlock Plus in the Extras repository. Regarding to the "rules" of publishing software to maemo-extras repository there are some things which should work before this package should be available in extras:

• Lack of bug reporting database: The maintainers of this application should ask for a section in bugs.maemo.org. We also should discuss what ios the right are in bugs.maemo.org for this: Maemo Official Applications -> Browser or Extras -> AdBlock Plus?
• It simply does not work for some people and me. And after installing it from the extras repository it should work
• I also think the package description sounds a little bit weird: "Will require a reboot or two before it will work." sounds like: "This application works but we don't know exactly why.

I thinks we can find more issues why it's not ready for end users but these points are the biggest ones (in my opinion).

Until these things are done it should not be available in maemo extras. What do you think?

Btw. I really would love to use this plugin. But I don't want to rename directories or have non-working buttons. :)

Ciao jukey

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

No need to remove it or rename any directories...

1) Install adblock and openssh from the app manager.

2) SFTP into your phone and copy patterns.ini from a working PC to your phone (~/.mozilla/microb/adblockplus/patterns.ini) (this part may be optional as the package comes with a small, default patterns.ini)

3) Edit the ~/.mozilla/microb/prefs.js file and set "extensions.adblockplus.enabled" to true and add {d10d0bf8-f5b5-c8b4-a8b2-2b9879e08c5d}:1.0.2, to "extensions.enabledItems".

4) Issue "killall browser browserd" from an Xterminal.

5) Start browsing! Ad free!


Granted, the package could be improved to automate some of these steps. Contact the packager. :p

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

Well... this is not exactly easy for the end user... I agree with jukey

PS: I don't use this extension

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

I don't think your workaround does anything but prove the OP's point...

I actually ended up removing adblock. It worked for me but seemed to make my browser a little funky. Hangs/slowdowns/crashes

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

Read my full post please. Contact the package maintainer. Complaining in this thread will do absolutely nothing.

Your account of "hangs/slowdowns" has nothing to do with Adblock. Please don't pollute this thread with misinformation.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

It does look like is having some blockers: http://maemo.org/packages/package_in...1.0/1maemo0-8/

Please contact the maintainer.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

I wrote an email to Jason (the maintainer of this package).

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

There's no need to do anything except restart the browser once or maybe twice. There's already a patterns.ini file in there that works perfectly fine for me and many others, which is how it got into extras to begin with.

Microb has some sort of bug in it that causes plugins to not immediately be recognized and it goes back to Nokia's official versions of these plugins that were released for OS2008. That's why the browser restart is needed, but for some reason, it doesn't always take right away. This isn't my fault and there's nothing I can do about it.

Other than that, the plugin works and has always worked fine for me and most of the community.

The person that posted that it was not optified made a mistake and wanted to take back what he said as you can see in his comments.

As far as I'm concerned, there aren't any blockers with the package. Even Andre, Tim and other big names in the community thumbed it up and if anyone is going to catch any real issues, it's those guys.

By the way, if you want to know why there isn't a section for Adblock in Bugzilla, it's because I was told no when I asked.

I'd like to go back to working on it, but since my N900 is broken and I still haven't received a response from Nokia...

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

None of this is needed because this is exactly what the plugin already does, except that it provides its own patterns.ini file so you don't need to import anything. It is a workaround for the fact that Adblock wasn't installable any other way.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

AdBlock plus has worked great for me on our development loaner, and my personal n900. I don't recall how many reboots/restarts were necessary.

It's one of the packages I tout as an example of the general ecosystem represented by and surrounding the n900, and why such a device is so much better than the alternatives (for my dev/geek/poweruser friends anyway)

Thanks much for repackaging it for maemo5

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

It would be great for example to have a test page for the plugin somewhere where users can check if the extension works or not.

Are there already bug reports for these issues in bugs.maemo.org?

But it doesn't work for everybody. I would really love to use it and to give feedback.

That's correct. But as I wrote in my first posting there are other things.

It's really good to hear that other people have no problem with using it. But as I wrote it does not work for everybody.

What was the reason? Every piece of software should have a place to track bugs somewhere. And bugs.maemo.org has an special section for every application in the extras repository. Pleas se also: http://wiki.maemo.org/Bugs:Adding_Extra_products

I keep my finger crossed to you that there will be a replacement device soon.

Until there is a place to track the bugs and place to test the plugin I vote for removing it from extras. What do you think?

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

one of the things i had to do was go to about:config and enable it. it was disabled by default (granted, i tried v1.1.1 from .xpi)

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

I wasn't given a reason.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

Uh? When, by whom?
At least in my Inbox I cannot see any request when searching for "Adblock" in all messages.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

Me, probably, as this was before (or just after) the bug tracker requirement was implemented.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

Any chance to get a section in bugs.maemo.org?

My suggestion is to have a new component called: "AdBlock Plus2 (component) in "Extras" (Classification) --> "Browser Extras" (Product).

Ciao Uwe

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

So may the maintainer send me an email if (s)he wants to be in Maemo Bugzilla, as written on http://wiki.maemo.org/Bugs:Adding_Extra_products ? :-)

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

I'll do that as soon as Nokia stops ignoring my issue and at least tells me what can be done about my broken N900.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

A broken N900 and having Adblock in Bugzilla are quite unrelated to each other I'd say, but as you like... :-)

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

They're deeply related to each other for me. If I can't get a response to my problem, I'm not going to be very motivated to work on fixing anything.

Besides, to this point, any and all bugs or problems people have mentioned can all be laid at the feet of the MicroB developers since there's nothing I can do to fix them - they're all issues with how MicroB handles extensions.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

That may be true but the goal of this thread is not to find a fix for all issues with adblock. The simple question is: Why can't you remove adblock plus from extras until it's working out of the box?

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

Because, for a vast majority of the community, it does work out of the box. I don't understand why you have some sort of vendetta against me or the package... but it's worked for almost everyone else. I'm sorry it didn't work for you... talk to the microb guys about it.

It's useful and many people are using it without a problem, so I will not be removing it, plain and simple.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

I have to agree. I was a little confused that the config screens didn't work but the extension seems to work fine. I see ads blocked on basically every page I go to.

This is turning into some sort of personal issue.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

Adblockplus totally messed up my browsing, blocked Internet connectivity and crashed the N900 by repetition. I tried the workaround promoted somewhere (editing pref.js, adding a working patterns.ini) to no avail. I uninstalled it and things got back to normal.
I love Adblockplus but the side effects are too harsh. The usefulness of this tool will likely have me search for other workarounds to fix it, but I don't believe the app has a place in the repository.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

The failure rates of the app don't seem to be significant. Hence, why remove it?

Over 3000 downloads with a dozen or so complaints. Anything with less than 1% failure rates should not be considered problematic?

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

I agree. (with some extra text here to make my message long enough to post)

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

I had tested the package installation about a hundred times before submitting it to extras-testing and I never once saw anything remotely approaching what you describe here.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

Problems here too, with AdBlock.
The extension is seen and activated just after installation, no problems at all, but the filter list is empty and I see all banners.
So I uploaded patterns.ini from my PC (overwriting a patterns.ini which was already here), edited the js script, and rebooted 2-3 times.
No luck, the list is still empty and it won't filter anything... pls help I really need adblock :'(

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

AdBlock was one of the first things I installed on my n900. I set it up with easylist+easyelement just as I do in the Firefox plugin version (gui/web), rebooted twice, and it has been invaluable. It has worked smoothly for the last month. For the record, I did not hack any of it's pref files. (Same story with my n810 two years ago.)

Best thing I can suggest is that if you are having weird problems is to reflash and wipe the relevant pref files.

I am sorry to hear that a few folks are having issues, but I find the repeated calls from one individual to have it removed from extras to be extreme.

Thanks zerojay! (Sorry to hear about your dead n900.)

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

For what it is worth, I installed Adblock plus shortly after I received my n900 and It worked right away. I didn't need to reboot at all. I do not know if it makes a difference, but I restarted my n900 right before I installed it.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

I got it to work! :D
I didn't notice that the system continued to put "enabled=false" in prefs.js even if I overwrite it >_>
Now it's ok, nice work!!!

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

Same here. It just seems to do nothing.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

OK. so what is the workaround for the system continued to put "enabled=false" in prefs.js even if you overwrite it?

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

Well, I didn't say anything because I assumed the developer was already aware of the problems I was having (from the existing complaints). It could be that the addon does not work for a large proportion of users.

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

Hi,

I just want to clarify that it is not my intension to make the plugin itself or the contributer or the package maintainer bad with my initial post. I love the adblock plkugin and I'm sure I can get it work with a little tuning and the good descriptions from this board.

But I understood that the extras repository is a place for end users. User who don't be familiar with xterm and things like prefs.js or about:config to enable something. Also one of the core features of the extension is to select a bunch of filter rules as subscription. If microb does not allow me to do that a dialogue during the installation would be great. Or also a test site where I clearly can see if the plugin works or not.

Whatever, these points are nice to have and it would be a good idea to discuss these enhancements and also the bugs (also these ones which affect only a few users).

All I want is end user friendly software in extras. But if the community says AdblockPlus is already end user friendly please don't remove it. But than also think about "rules" like written down on this page: http://wiki.maemo.org/Extras-testing/QA_Checklist

Those "rules" are worthless if some of the applicatiions don't care about. There is a check list and I try to fill the form for AddblockPlus:

1. [ ] Bug database exist.
FAIL: no database exists and no database requested for bugs.maemo.org
2. [?] Licensing ok.
Don't kow much about this stuff but should be fine beacuse it also is an extension for other mozilla browsers
3. [x] No illegal/dubious content.
4. [?] Working provided features.
For "the main part of the community" yes. For me "no".
5. [ ] No missing announced features.
Most people know the feature set of adblock plus. For microb there are no features. Just install it and block the stuff already provided in the filter file.
6. [x] Optification ok.
7. [?] No performance problems.
See some postings above. There is somebody who thinks there could be issus.
8. [x] No power management issues.
9. [x] No known security risks.

The last point is that there are more than one possibility o install it. If I read the thread right you can install it using gthe application manager OR you can download it as normal plugin from mozilla.org and install it in this way. If both installations have the same result everything would be fine.

Ciao jukey

Re: [Adblock Plus] Remove from Extras
 

I'm with Jukey on this. I'm probably what you would call an end user as I have hardly any experience with Xterm or Linux for that. I installed the one from the repository as one of the first things I did on my N900 as I regard the plugin for firefox on any pc i use as invaluable.
I had the same problems as lot of people where it was installed but unable to get any blocking lists setup. And then once I had researched it on here figured out that I had to get the latter 1.11 version as opposed to the 1.02 I had installed. This then led me to the problem that it won't uninstall. I've managed to get it removed now after someone pointed out what I had to do and with a little bit of geek intuition from myself.

Point is it doesn't work "out of the box", or repository as it were. And I'm pretty sure a lot more people will have this problem as I would imagine a LOT of people that own N900s don't post on here or even know about it. So I don't it should be there, yet at least

Not knocking the developer as kudos to him for his work and it may well be that the problems we are having are to do with Microb rather than the plugin itself.

Don't know if it's been mentioned on this thread already but there is another with users having problems here too: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=36548