Another browser bites the dust

[matt3o]

Welcome to the world of closed source and adware, Firefox

https://blog.mozilla.org/futurereleases ... efox-beta/

only thing left to do is to install Konqueror

[andrewjoy]

I dont understand , whats changed ? It was never GPL anyway was it ?

[matt3o]

MPL 2.0 is GPL compatible.

[seebart]

They're introducing shitty new features called "hello" and "pocket". With those names I know I won't be using them. I've been using Opera and I'm quite happy with it.

[matt3o]

the problem is that pocket is a closed source, basically adware, product

[seebart]

Yeah Firefox has been mutating more and more. Kinda sad.

[Halvar]

I agree. I have no problem with them offering cloud services, but adding closed source stuff to the default builds of Firefox would be a pretty dumb move.

[chzel]

Opera since v12 has been a bit crappy...I used to love it, but no more...

[andrewjoy]

I use chrome on windows and safari on mac , i know i should use a more open browser with less crap in it but i am at the point now where if it works well and i can install the privacy extensions i want i just go with it.

[matt3o]

the problem is also that everybody loves OSS but very few actively contribute to it.

I have donated to basically every open source software I use and I keep sending funds every time I can.

I developed an open source software that has been used by Apple, Microsoft, Nike, ... in 5 years I probably raised less than $500 and I'm now to the point where I can't simply support it anymore.

[Muirium]

Firefox has suffered badly in direction ever since Chrome appeared and seized its position as chief alternative browser. Pretty much everything Mozilla has done since is foolish and counterproductive. Can't say I'm the least surprised.

What's holding you open source guys back from Chromium? Google's general nasty stink?

[fohat]

Firefox has suffered badly in direction ever since Chrome appeared and seized its position as chief alternative browser. Pretty much everything Mozilla has done since is foolish and counterproductive. Can't say I'm the least surprised.

What's holding you open source guys back from Chromium? Google's general nasty stink?

Somehow, even though I have used GMail and Google Docs for years, it seemed like staying with Firefox allowed me to keep some crack of separation from Google.

And I have always really liked Firefox. I left IE behind at about the time I went from 98 to XP (as a browser that is, I kept it installed so that I could use it to update Microsoft).

I am philosophically somewhat indifferent as to whether the software is open or closed, but I really resent cumbersome log-ins that I am constantly going through (since I clean out history/cookies/cache often). I have discreet Google/GMail/Google Docs accounts for both personal and business, and that "one account for everything" that they started a couple of years ago means that I have to go through a lengthy log-out/log-in procedure every time I want to switch from one to the other (if I need Docs, that is). And it is even worse if I forget to un-tick the "keep me logged in" box every time.

[Muirium]

The only time I ever touch Chrome is for multi account stuff like that. I just use different browsers! All of them deliciously vile and anti-freedom.

Something about Chrome doesn't smell right. Perhaps it's better on Windows. But on Mac it's an oddball, like Firefox.

[seebart]

I never touch Chrome. Not even on Android. There are always alternatives.

http://www.howtogeek.com/108384/6-alter ... le-chrome/

sorry about the "howtogeek" link, but it has all those ports in one list.

[Muirium]

The one I could really use is a PowerPC port on OS X. Tenfourfox (a Firefox back port) is maddeningly slow now, after so many bad ideas from Mozilla HQ. But Google built Intel only on OS X from day one. Fuelling my long running distaste for them.

[andrewjoy]

Could you not build the chromium source for PPC ? I very much doubt that the code is low level enough to use x86 specific instructions.

[bhtooefr]

All modern web browsers absolutely use x86 (and ARM) specific instructions in their JavaScript engines (such is how high-performance JIT recompilers work). However, there's typically ways to build a lower performance interpreting version of the JavaScript engine for architectures other than x86 or ARM.

That said, OS X PPC on the modern internet is a terrible idea, run Linux on your PPCs if you must use them today (or Mac OS 9 - the attack surface is much smaller, and incompatibility with Unix actually helps a lot).

[SL89]

Hello has been included for a while. Mozilla needs a come to Jesus meeting with Stallman and Co...

Regarding Opera, I still run the last good version before it became a chrome-alike. And Vivaldi seems to be trying to emulate that.

The thing is that the 'good guys' have become the issue themselves (Mozilla) or her steamrolled by the 'bad guys' (Google, Microsoft, Apple) and there is no 3rd path due to the small or limited nature of most FOSS software and the lack of contribution as Matt3o pointed out.

None of these issues are technical, they are all 'political' or business issues.

[seebart]

None of these issues are technical, they are all 'political' or business issues.

exactly, mozilla started out as an underdog and came out with good compact software. They've been slowly changing their course for a while now. A lot of marketing behind that also. I hope they don't loose the focus with all their strange ideas.

[Muirium]

That said, OS X PPC on the modern internet is a terrible idea, run Linux on your PPCs if you must use them today (or Mac OS 9 - the attack surface is much smaller, and incompatibility with Unix actually helps a lot).

OS 9 won't boot on my iMac G4 or 12" PowerBook. Apple needed users on the brand new OS X back in the early 2000s so were agressive about that. And my experiments with running Classilla (an even more troublesome Firefox port by the same guy) under Classic were 50/50 hilarity and sadness. That platform's stone cold dead.

And I never have been able to run Linux without going batshit insane within minutes. Not designed with my mindset at all. At least old Macs are Macs.

Alas, my hacked Mac Pro (2006) and shitty old Dell display aren't playing ball. That desktop last showed an image the day before I flew to America. Identifying the problem is tricky because I have no other DVI machines to hand (to test the monitor) and the hacked Mac Pro lacks several convenience features of modern Macs, what with the hacking and unsupported video card.

Needless to say, the new hardware fund is currently searching for its first penny.

So the old iMac comes out yet again. And Tenfourfox is even worse than I remember. Not for lack of effort by its maker. Fuck you Mozilla!

[SL89]

The focus left years ago, at this point they see just trying to stop the hemorrhaging. I think they seemed to have seen the error if their ways (getting in bed with Google) and are trying to fix it, but it's too late and now the game has changed and they are trying to catch up.

[seebart]

you sound like an angry Apple user Mu! Just go Linux. There's another platform called windoof in German. Try that. You might like it and be shocked. Of course all that would entail getting new hardware for €€€.

How_to_fix_your_Computer.jpg (79.45 KiB) Viewed 87853 times

[SL89]

Isn't there a FOSS Mac like system based on Darwin or something?

[Muirium]

Its all these keyboards fault. I used to be a merry laptop user, but with a sore back and increasing disinterest in typing. Now I'm a disgruntled standing desktop user without physical ailment and with fantastic boards I really love typing on, but no damn computer!

For all I spent on mechs over these years I could have bought… hmm… nope. I got a lot of bargains. There's not a Mac available for that total price.

No need to suggest alternate platforms by the way. They all stink! I'm a Mac snob you know. And I also love my software. The old Macs run it very well, besides the bloody web.


@Seebart: The perfect chart. I'm not as angry as I sound, these computers are over 12 years old! It's just what I'm stuck with. Perhaps if I start saving now, the next 5k iMac will be ready, with USB C ports all along the edge. I can dream.

[bhtooefr]

If you can't put up with other OSes, get used to paying a lot to keep up with Apple and their requirements.

If you can't afford to keep up with Apple, get used to other OSes, IMO.

[Muirium]

I have a newish one. A 2013 retina MacBook Pro. Like Mr_A500, I rather regret it now. I should have waited and bought the 5k iMac that surprised everyone and came out a year later instead. So for now I'm in an awkward place.

The other option is a good high definition display. I looked at some in America, but wasn't impressed. The shitty old non-retina Thunderbolt display makes all of them look so chintzy. But I'm not buying that!

[SL89]

Tbh, I miss my macbook (circa 2006) but I am extremely wary of Apple these days and their ebb and flow of which lines keep going and which are extinguished.

[bhtooefr]

Myself, my regrets related to my MBPR 15" Mid-2012 are related to the declining quality of the OS, and the lack of pointing stick or quality keyboard, not the rest of the hardware.

[Muirium]

The plastic MacBooks were horrible. A friend of mine cracked his to tiny bits. The Unibody metal Macs that replaced them were a tremendous step in the right direction.

Apple's desktops are where the hard choices lie right now. The iMac 5k blows even the Mac Pro away. I had the eye for one real bad once I tried it in the store. But then that new MacBook came along and now USB C seems to be the next line in the sand to beware! Gah, progress. I remember when ports would live forever and it was processors that actually changed names. Old times.

[SL89]

Mu, my plastic macbook outlived both of my brothers metal ones. Mine was just specced out similar to a mbp was at the time.

I just think they change things up to often to get back into that camp as things are seemingly very mercurial and subject to change.