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The big deal with Firefox 4 is support for Jetpack: https://jetpack.mozillalabs.com/ https://jetpack.mozillalabs.com/ Like with Chrome, and more recently Safa

by luigi 16y ago

The big deal with Firefox 4 is support for Jetpack: https://jetpack.mozillalabs.com/ https://jetpack.mozillalabs.com/ Like with Chrome, and more recently Safari, we can now write Firefox extensions using HTML/CSS/Javascript.

deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
whimsy 16y ago
So Jetpack obsoletes GreaseMonkey?
- luigi 16y ago
  Yes, though GreaseMonkey will always be available to those who choose to (know to) install it.
  - aboodman 16y ago
    It's Greasemonkey, not GreaseMonkey. Greasemonkey is a third-party extension. It wasn't created and isn't maintained by Mozilla, so it can't be officially obsoleted by Jetpack. That said, if Jetpack supported transparently installing Greasemonkey scripts (the way Chrome does -- http://mashable.com/2010/02/01/google-chrome-greasemonkey-2/ http://mashable.com/2010/02/01/google-chrome-greasemonkey-2/), it would effectively obsolete Greasemonkey because there'd be no need to install it. Until then, there are 40k user scripts on userscripts.org that still need Greasemonkey installed in order to work: http://userscripts.org/ http://userscripts.org/.
    - whimsy 16y ago
      Users decide whether something is obsolete, not creators. "Obsolete" refers to something that is antiquated, even if it is still in good working order. From Wikipedia: "Technical obsolescence may occur when a new product or technology supersedes the old, and it becomes preferred to utilize the new technology in place of the old." As far as I know, Greasemonkey essentially runs user-selected javascript on a page automatically. The impression I get is that Jetpack does the same thing. Therefore, there will be no need for a third-party extension to achieve this functionality. Therefore, Greasemonkey will be "unnecessary," rendering it obsolete, regardless of any special edge cases. (Even 40K user scripts can be considered special edge cases - the set of actual implementation is much smaller than the set of possible javascript implementations.) "Obsolete" may be an overloaded term, but this is the plain English usage, and it's the usage I'm using. EDIT: I misunderstood that Jetpack was originally an extension and not just a codename for a new feature.
      - aboodman 16y ago
        Fair enough. I misinterpreted your question to be "So, Mozilla says that this replaces Greasemonkey?", and wanted to clarify the situation (and also snark about the capitalization, a long-time peeve that I should really let go, but never quite can).
natmaster 16y ago
My obligatory http://xkcd.com/386/ http://xkcd.com/386/ Jetpack has been around since May 20, 2009 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12025/versions https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12025/version... What's new in Firefox 4 is that it is integrated instead of being an extension.
- luigi 16y ago
  That's what I meant by "support" for Jetpack. We as developers can comfortably build extensions for it, knowing that it'll have a broad user base. I didn't say "introduction" of Jetpack.
nyc_jenna 16y ago
Yeah, Jetpack is so much better than Greasemonkey. Firefox 4 beta is whole lot better and feels faster too.

by luigi 16y ago

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

whimsy 16y ago

So Jetpack obsoletes GreaseMonkey?

luigi 16y ago
Yes, though GreaseMonkey will always be available to those who choose to (know to) install it.
- aboodman 16y ago
  It's Greasemonkey, not GreaseMonkey. Greasemonkey is a third-party extension. It wasn't created and isn't maintained by Mozilla, so it can't be officially obsoleted by Jetpack. That said, if Jetpack supported transparently installing Greasemonkey scripts (the way Chrome does -- http://mashable.com/2010/02/01/google-chrome-greasemonkey-2/ http://mashable.com/2010/02/01/google-chrome-greasemonkey-2/), it would effectively obsolete Greasemonkey because there'd be no need to install it. Until then, there are 40k user scripts on userscripts.org that still need Greasemonkey installed in order to work: http://userscripts.org/ http://userscripts.org/.
  - whimsy 16y ago
    Users decide whether something is obsolete, not creators. "Obsolete" refers to something that is antiquated, even if it is still in good working order. From Wikipedia: "Technical obsolescence may occur when a new product or technology supersedes the old, and it becomes preferred to utilize the new technology in place of the old." As far as I know, Greasemonkey essentially runs user-selected javascript on a page automatically. The impression I get is that Jetpack does the same thing. Therefore, there will be no need for a third-party extension to achieve this functionality. Therefore, Greasemonkey will be "unnecessary," rendering it obsolete, regardless of any special edge cases. (Even 40K user scripts can be considered special edge cases - the set of actual implementation is much smaller than the set of possible javascript implementations.) "Obsolete" may be an overloaded term, but this is the plain English usage, and it's the usage I'm using. EDIT: I misunderstood that Jetpack was originally an extension and not just a codename for a new feature.
    - aboodman 16y ago
      Fair enough. I misinterpreted your question to be "So, Mozilla says that this replaces Greasemonkey?", and wanted to clarify the situation (and also snark about the capitalization, a long-time peeve that I should really let go, but never quite can).

natmaster 16y ago

My obligatory http://xkcd.com/386/ http://xkcd.com/386/ Jetpack has been around since May 20, 2009 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12025/versions https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/12025/version... What's new in Firefox 4 is that it is integrated instead of being an extension.

luigi 16y ago
That's what I meant by "support" for Jetpack. We as developers can comfortably build extensions for it, knowing that it'll have a broad user base. I didn't say "introduction" of Jetpack.

nyc_jenna 16y ago

Yeah, Jetpack is so much better than Greasemonkey. Firefox 4 beta is whole lot better and feels faster too.