Discord won't open on Linux when an update is available
The issue in point form:
- Running Manjaro Linux - Discord installed via Pacman
- Discord refuses to open due to 0.0.10 being available
- Pacman says 0.0.9-5 is the latest
- Many Linux users prefer to use package managers over manually installing
Discord should not be forcing users to update to the latest version immediately after each release. Even for a hotfix, it's unreasonable to assume that everyone will have instant access to the latest version.
There are a number of reasons why updating might not be possible right away, including:
- Community-driven package managers can be slower to catch up
- Corporate device policies may lock down app versions
- Users of mobile tethering and metered connections often prefer to wait until they are on an non-metered connection before downloading updates
I'm all for forcing users to eventually update - but give everyone a reasonable amount of time to do so. I've opened Slack on my old macbook, and had a three month old version still work without a hitch.
tl;dr: Please give users a grace period to install updates.
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Thanks for the tip on images / flatpak. It's inconvenient, but it works in this case.
That said, my point stands. Forcing users to update immediately isn't realistic, for reasons I've already stated.
To date Discord is the only app I've used that does this.
21 -
I totally agree to taktician. It makes using discord for Linux users even worse. It is not user-friendly!
@Discord: You won't make any friends with something like this! You destroy a part of what makes Linux better than everything else.20 -
Yes it kind of seems like Linux users are treated as B-Class citizens all over the place. First the Share Screen doesn't work properly on multimonitor but initially it didnt work at all for a few months. Now I cant even open Discord at all because there's an update that I cant skip which isn't even available for me? I mean, let's not use Discord at all, if its going to treat us like that. Because I dont wanna wait on every update "a few days" (quoted from the gentleman above) before I actually use Discord.
I understand that I may not be fair in my judgement and douchy. But these kind of things make me kind of furious. Everything runs on Linux, yet the support on Linux from applications like Discord is weak and I cant see the reason why. I've been a premium member for like a year or 2 for Discord, if this is how they thank me then I might go to another valley.13 -
Just checking we're all on the same page (and maybe clear up any confusion?):
Discord themselves only provide (and offer support for) the .deb and .tar.gz for the Discord client on their download page here.
Anywhere else you can install the Discord Client from is not maintained by Discord themselves. This includes: Snapcraft, Flatpak, Arch/Manjaro repositories, ...
These "unofficial" repositories (as in not directly provided by Discord themselves) still rely on Discord's "official" packages (as in directly from Discord's website) to allow users to install and update Discord through their distro's package manager.Take for example the (unofficial) Arch package, which is actually nothing more than an installation script (PKGBUILD) that downloads the official .tar.gz file from Discord's website and installs the contents of that tar archive automatically.
The problem is, this (unofficial) install script cannot be updated until the official downloads are released by Discord, which is also exactly when Discord starts to prevent users on old versions of the Discord Client from logging on.The very simple solution to this, as in OP's post, is that Discord should implement a grace period for users on the old clients.
This would mean that:
- Discord would release the new official Client version on the downloads page and prompt (but not force) the user to update when they open the Discord Client.
- There would be a few days' grace for the unofficial package maintainers to release updated packages (installation scripts etc)
- Users have time to update the Discord Client through their package manager when the unofficial packages are released.
- Grace period ends, Discord stops logons from old Client versions.
The issue at hand here is not what Discord do/do not provide support for. The purpose of this feedback thread is to call for Discord to not immediately disable log-ons from old client versions from the minute they release a new update, which as many others in this thread have mentioned, is a very uncommon and user-toxic policy.
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I have to give Discord credit - they have one of the best Electron apps I've seen to date. The contrast between Discord and Slack, in terms of quality, is night and day.
My issue here is that this is unprecedented, hard-coded, app-disabling functionality that serves no real purpose other than to frustrate their Linux userbase - some of which are paying to use it. It can take days if not weeks and even months for updates to propogate across an entire Linux userbase, and there are good reasons for this. A Linux app with an "upgrade now or die lol" policy doesn't make much sense.
This is an easy fix - I hope they implement it soon. I'd hate for this to become a frequent occurance. I was considering upgrading to Nitro Classic for the HD screen sharing, as that's useful for my work... but I'm going to hold off until Discord can commit to fixing this.
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@Mikachu: Thanks! Worked for me. Here is what I did:
# Find discord directory:
ls -la `which discord`
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 24 Mar 7 2019 /usr/bin/discord -> ../share/discord/Discord# find and update JSON file using sed command
find /usr/share/discord -name build_info.json -exec sudo sed -i.orig 's/\.9/\.10/' {} \;
# display both the updated JSON and backup ( original )
find /usr/share/discord -name build_info.* -ls -exec cat {} \; -exec echo \;
4325594 4 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 56 Feb 26 06:54 /usr/share/discord/resources/build_info.json
{
"releaseChannel": "stable",
"version": "0.0.10"
}
4325980 4 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 55 Mar 7 2019 /usr/share/discord/resources/build_info.json.orig
{
"releaseChannel": "stable",
"version": "0.0.9"
}# start discord now
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This is happening again. This is terrible user experience, I have something schedule on Discord now and this is ruining it...
8 -
Just now. 0.0.12 is out and I can't launch discord because not in arch repo yet, I launched the 0.0.11 a few minutes ago and now I can't. that's highly stupid.
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Agreed
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It's that time of the month again... Discord is updated and locks lots of Linux users out. I wish that Discord devs would give a few days (and some notice) so that distros have enough time to update their builds.
The worst part of it is that we are not talking about any breaking change with new versions. There are probably some security updates and so but nothing that prevents an old version of working with newer OTA code and servers. If you just update the `/usr/lib64/discord/resources/build_info.json` to version 0.015 it just works, no need to download anything new.
Please Discord devs, take into account how the Linux ecosystem works.
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I actually bothered with changing the version number (https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/360057789311/comments/360009476712 ) this time around to get back in, but this really is getting annoying.
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Looks like version 0.0.11 is on the Arch Community repository now so only a matter of time before Pacman picks it up.
+1 for a longer grace period so that the good community folks who package up the Discord App for us Arch users have ample time to do so and for the new updates to be able to roll out before old versions get locked out.edit: it's kinda telling that there's no linux download link in the footer of this support page like there is for every other platform :(
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Just happened to me. It worked fine a few minutes ago, then I did a restart and now it's not starting anymore. Why do I even use the snap package if it is not up to date? This lock out mechanism should be disabled on snap.
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Yeah, this kind of policy sucks. I'm on Arch, so was lucky that the update just popped up. But others might not be so lucky.
This is really a bad practice.
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The thing is... I have multiple machines, so while I can't start a Discord on one machine because there is a newer version available. The discord that is still running on a different machine, continues to run perfectly fine.
In other words, there is no reason why the old one can run for a period. Discord just does not let the user run it until they upgrade... Very anti-social that!
This is with Fedora 31, system install. Had to install a second 'personal' one for a few days, until the update became available. Waste of personal disk space, time, and energy! When a little slack in allowing the use of older version would have fixed the problem.Arrgghhh.... Pull out hair... Hmm... What hair!
Hmmm... Nice alternative to fool the older discord in thinking it is the newer one!4 -
I can confirm. It once again happened on my machine too. So waiting for the system updated. But they should really have a grace period. Really bad practice, still.
4 -
Same here. Pacman's latest version is discord-0.0.10-3, while opening the app shows 0.0.11 is available.
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Agreed 2x
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I made a thread on the Manjaro forums discussing this user-toxic situation and proposing that Manjaro either make an exception for Discord or drop official support for Discord: https://forum.manjaro.org/t/discord-update-official-manjaro-application-package-situation/23816 .
Any Manjaro users, please feel free to chime in in that thread.
4 -
On Manjaro the new Update was pushed. This time it was luckily fast again. But last time it took a few days.
Still this situation sucks. Wish it was acknowledged at least.
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0.0.12 is still not in the Arch repos and I can't use Discord at all. It's completely unacceptable to force people to use a version not yet available on their platform. I'm rethinking using Discord at all if they decide to make arbitrary decisions that completely prevent you from using the service. Even Skype and Teamspeak actually work reliably, as well as not actively making user-hostile decisions the way Discord does.
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If you're on Manjaro, it looks like 0.0.13 is available on the official repos already. If you're on the official Arch repo, they're still on 0.0.12, but Snap and Flatpak are already up-to-date instead (bear in mind they haven't always been this fast to keep up, though)
I've said it before and I'll say it again. While Discord doesn't have any obligation to support anything other than their own .deb and .tar.gz downloads, it would be greatly appreciated if they at least built in a grace period to allow users to continue using the old client until the new one is available in their preferred package manager. Just let the "I'll figure it out" option allow us to use the old version for a bit longer!The "I'll figure it out" option in the pop-up also shows that they are clearly aware that loads of people install Discord in other ways than their official downloads, and knowingly blocking those users out is honestly just user-toxic.
The fact that you can change the version number inbuild_info.jsonto bypass the version check and still be able to send/receive messages is proof that there's no functional reason why the old client couldn't be used on the new backend for just a couple more days...4 -
I want to add myself to the chorus of people saying that this update issue is a terribly irritating and user hostile decision on Discord's part. I recently started using Discord for the first time, but do not plan on using it in the future based solely on this issue. All other competing chat services can at least do the bare minimum of opening and being usable immediately when needed.
4 -
This issue still isn't resolved on Manjaro, and while I like that they have a tar.gz, manually installing a package is a world of pain. Why not give a .pkg.tar.zst instead? Then pacman should be able to handle an upgrade that way.
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You can manually bump the version number stored in resource/build_info.json and it will start up fine.
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@ggoas yes, that's all I'd want. They should give a bigger timeframe where older clients are allowed to connect. The old client was working just fine, but I wanted to restart my machine.
Afterwards I spent an hour trying to get connected / trying to get sound working in Firefox so I rejoin my friends in MC. :(
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Discord has now been updated in the Arch community package database (less than 15 mins ago as of writing) so it should update to the correct version now, but you might need to tell pacman to sync package databases first.
I do agree that there should be a longer transition window to allow those using linux package managers to keep up though...3 -
I just encountered this with version 0.0.12 using Manjaro (Manjaro package here: https://discover.manjaro.org/applications/discord ). This is quite the opposite experience compared to skypeforlinux. Discord's advertising was originally all about throwing Skype away, yet Skype works way better to this day. When there's a Skype update in Linux, it shows a link for the update in the channel list after Skype is already running, allowing the user to click it at their leisure, and otherwise get their work done. I'm presently glad to have not switched to Discord for anything serious, and have stuck with Skype for that instead. That being said, I do genuinely hope Discord can catch up to Skype some day though. I have no ill will. Thanks for making Discord!
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I'm on Manjaro - still no update. I've synced packages, nada.
I'm trying to be polite - but from a software engineer's perspective, this is pretty bad.
Please give us an ETA or some indication that you're aware of this problem - or just tell us it's not a priority so we can find an alternative. Some of us use this for work too - but not for much longer.
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Same problem for a Ubuntu user, Snap package manager says Discord is up to date, but it wont run because I need a newer version.
So am I supposed to uninstall and reinstall using the deb file, to afterwards delete it again and install it once the package manager recognizes that there is an update available?
It seems like an unnecessary amount of trouble to go through for a VoIP-application. If it was some kind of security update for my OS I could at least understand the reasoning, I fail to see the logic in doing this.And I agree with taktician, if this is not fixed, I will be forced to switch to a different solution, because this is not reliable software, I am not going to spend 30 minutes of hassle each time Discord has an update.
Edit, 1 day later:Wanted to say that I didn't even have to update/install anything, but Discord "automagically" updated once I launched it this afternoon. So now they need to just make sure that the moment of auto-updating is equal to the moment they start requiring the newest version, and we're good :)
Edit 15/9/2020:
I had opened a separate thread since I didnt know if this one was still active:https://support.discord.com/hc/nl/requests/8960585?page=1
And I actually got response from a Discord employee saying something to the extent of: We do not officially support Linux, thats why there might be problems, but if we get enough upvotes on this post their developers might look at it.Just wanted to let you all know.
Kind regards,3
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