9 ms·

It is so clear to me that we need to support and promote mozilla and Firefox. They're not perfect, but they, wikipedia, eff, archive.org (who else?) are such an

by dror 7y ago

It is so clear to me that we need to support and promote mozilla and Firefox. They're not perfect, but they, wikipedia, eff, archive.org (who else?) are such an important part of the Internet guardianship in the face of the monopolies, that it's our duty to support them. Doesn't hurt that Firefox is actually a great product.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
atomi 7y ago
I would switch today if Mozilla added tab completed search in the address bar that Chrome pioneered. It's very intuitive and difficult to give up.
- jotaf 7y ago
  You have tab completion in the search bar (Ctrl+K)! Personally I disable the cloud-based suggestions and rely only on my local history.
- feanaro 7y ago
  I hope I don't sound crass, but how much is this feature going to matter to you once Google locks up the web?
  - mda 7y ago
    Hysteria of HN is hilarious.
    - feanaro 7y ago
      What is your argument? It is clearly happening and it is not surprising given Google's business incentives. It's slow enough that there is a large chance of many falling for it, which is what makes it so dangerous.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- kiplo 7y ago
  I'm not sure if this accomplishes what you're looking for, but when I switched to Firefox I had similar complaints and turned to custom keywords: https://www-archive.mozilla.org/docs/end-user/keywords.html https://www-archive.mozilla.org/docs/end-user/keywords.html Basically, Firefox allows you to set a keyword (which I often set to an abbreviation + question mark) which you can link to a site's search URL. For example to search Google Scholar I would type my keyword, "sch?" and then my search query, and after pressing enter I am taken to the site's search results. It's a few more steps you have to take, but has the added benefit of allowing you to add the functionality for any site.
  - smacktoward 7y ago
    Alternately you can switch the default search engine to DuckDuckGo, which lets you use DDG's "bang" search shortcuts (see https://duckduckgo.com/bang https://duckduckgo.com/bang) from the Awesomebar. So you just type a search query and then append "!g" to run that search query through Google, "!w" to search for it on Wikipedia, "!yt" to search for it on HN, etc.
- grimgrin 7y ago
  Not everyone is understanding what you're saying, as evident by the downvotes you're getting I'm fulltime FF but I won't pretend that the in-site (site specific) search works as smoothly as it did (does?) in Chrome In Chrome you would go to foo.com and you would use their search input and from then on, in your address bar you can type foo (or maybe just f, depending on how often you use foo.com), and press <tab> to search within the site This is a workflow you get used to For the longest time I wanted this in FF, but I think the real thing that clicked for me was just heavily leaning on duckduckgo's bangs https://duckduckgo.com/bang https://duckduckgo.com/bang (Firefox does have in-site search, which you can use by right clicking in the site's search input and clicking "Add a Keyword for this Search", but I'm not even sure how it works heh) edit: okay so this is how it works https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-search-from-address-bar https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-search-from-address... and I just added `a` for amazon.com and I typed `a` in the address bar and pressed <enter> and it didn't do anything, hm edit2: so I guess my main point should have been: Firefox has a manual step for what Chrome did for "free", after you made your first in-site search, which you were probably already going to do
  - inferiorhuman 7y ago
    Not everyone is understanding what you're saying, as evident by the downvotes you're getting Well also I'd like the address bar to be a fucking address bar and not an address-but-sometimes-search bar.
    - crummy 7y ago
      How does the tab-to-search feature in Chrome negatively affect how you use the address bar? Are you entering URLs with tabs in them?
      - grimgrin 7y ago
        It doesn’t negatively effect it. I like it I was highlighting what I missed when switching over
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
- Stormwalker 7y ago
  You're good to go! Just enable it in settings!
latexr 7y ago
> Doesn't hurt that Firefox is actually a great product. Arguably. On these threads there is always a handful of complaints about the state of Firefox, mostly on macOS. On my machine, I can’t even launch Firefox in headless mode without the fans turning on, which never happened on Chrome. While I haven’t benchmarked it, for normal browsing it does feel slower than Crome. But what kills it for me is their crippled AppleScript support. Firefox is the worst major browser (even worse than smaller browsers) for an automator on macOS. I rely on browser control every day, so Firefox is useless to me. I’d sooner switch to Safari, which despite laughable controls (can’t even disable JavaScript on a per-website basis) I can do something with.
- jb1991 7y ago
  Yeah, unfortunately, Mozilla has consistently demonstrated over recent years that it doesn't care about Mac users. It's weird, to be honest. The widespread issues for many, though not all, Mac users, will not make it a ubiquituous browser.
  - gnomewascool 7y ago
    What's even weirder is that a significant proportion of Mozilla's developers use Macs as their main platform (if I recall correctly the most popular platforms are Linux, then Macs and Windows a very distant third).
  - disordinary 7y ago
    I use a mac and firefox is my main browser, I don't remember having any problems.
    - bogidon 7y ago
      So do I. There are things like text replacement, download progress indication on file icons, and other Cocoa-esque things that don't work on Firefox, but outside a probably very small segment of users who would even notice these things, and a smaller yet segment who would actually care, Firefox feels at home enough in macOS. What I think damages Firefox's user-friendliness more is how easy it is to get to setting screens that look scary to the average user. For example Firefox recently started recommending an extension called "Enhancer for YouTube" when a user visits YouTube after upgrading to some new version of Firefox. Upon installing the extension, you get taken to the extension's settings screen which has a design that would definitely throw off my non-techie family members [1]. Also, take a look at the Firefox release notes for iOS [2] – sure it's "nice" for us devs to have access to raw GitHub issue labels or whatever those are – but for non-techie users they might be interpreted as conveying a certain messaging that Firefox is not really designed for them. [1] https://i.imgur.com/8TIetRA.png https://i.imgur.com/8TIetRA.png [2] https://i.imgur.com/QoUG1ZF.png https://i.imgur.com/QoUG1ZF.png
CalChris 7y ago
I already use Firefox on the iPhone. I think it’s better than Chrome. Probably gonna switch on the desktop.
- ben-schaaf 7y ago
  Is there any actual difference between the two beyond UI and sync? From what I understand they're both safari underneath?
  - CalChris 7y ago
    I think you meant iOS WebKit for rendering rather than Safari. Firefox iOS uses WebKit while it used to use Gecko. I seem to remember speed being a difference. It’s been awhile. I also switched from gmail to outlook because gmail was using headers and footers for ads which was annoying on a 4” SE.
    - lol768 7y ago
      >while it used to use Gecko How was it ever permitted to use Gecko underneath? Have the iOS app rules changed in recent years? Did they used to be more permissive?
      - CalChris 7y ago
        Thanks, I was wrong about that. On iOS, Firefox switched to webkit for iOS for rendering (which includes JS). For the desktop, Firefox used and uses Gecko; the desktop version of course came first.
      - anticensor 7y ago
        Firefox-on-Store uses Webkit but there is an experimental fork using Gecko/Servo in case Apple allows in the future. You can build and developer-sign that fork for your own.

by dror 7y ago

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

atomi 7y ago

I would switch today if Mozilla added tab completed search in the address bar that Chrome pioneered. It's very intuitive and difficult to give up.

jotaf 7y ago
You have tab completion in the search bar (Ctrl+K)! Personally I disable the cloud-based suggestions and rely only on my local history.
feanaro 7y ago
I hope I don't sound crass, but how much is this feature going to matter to you once Google locks up the web?
- mda 7y ago
  Hysteria of HN is hilarious.
  - feanaro 7y ago
    What is your argument? It is clearly happening and it is not surprising given Google's business incentives. It's slow enough that there is a large chance of many falling for it, which is what makes it so dangerous.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
kiplo 7y ago
I'm not sure if this accomplishes what you're looking for, but when I switched to Firefox I had similar complaints and turned to custom keywords: https://www-archive.mozilla.org/docs/end-user/keywords.html https://www-archive.mozilla.org/docs/end-user/keywords.html Basically, Firefox allows you to set a keyword (which I often set to an abbreviation + question mark) which you can link to a site's search URL. For example to search Google Scholar I would type my keyword, "sch?" and then my search query, and after pressing enter I am taken to the site's search results. It's a few more steps you have to take, but has the added benefit of allowing you to add the functionality for any site.
- smacktoward 7y ago
  Alternately you can switch the default search engine to DuckDuckGo, which lets you use DDG's "bang" search shortcuts (see https://duckduckgo.com/bang https://duckduckgo.com/bang) from the Awesomebar. So you just type a search query and then append "!g" to run that search query through Google, "!w" to search for it on Wikipedia, "!yt" to search for it on HN, etc.
grimgrin 7y ago
Not everyone is understanding what you're saying, as evident by the downvotes you're getting I'm fulltime FF but I won't pretend that the in-site (site specific) search works as smoothly as it did (does?) in Chrome In Chrome you would go to foo.com and you would use their search input and from then on, in your address bar you can type foo (or maybe just f, depending on how often you use foo.com), and press <tab> to search within the site This is a workflow you get used to For the longest time I wanted this in FF, but I think the real thing that clicked for me was just heavily leaning on duckduckgo's bangs https://duckduckgo.com/bang https://duckduckgo.com/bang (Firefox does have in-site search, which you can use by right clicking in the site's search input and clicking "Add a Keyword for this Search", but I'm not even sure how it works heh) edit: okay so this is how it works https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-search-from-address-bar https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-search-from-address... and I just added `a` for amazon.com and I typed `a` in the address bar and pressed <enter> and it didn't do anything, hm edit2: so I guess my main point should have been: Firefox has a manual step for what Chrome did for "free", after you made your first in-site search, which you were probably already going to do
- inferiorhuman 7y ago
  Not everyone is understanding what you're saying, as evident by the downvotes you're getting Well also I'd like the address bar to be a fucking address bar and not an address-but-sometimes-search bar.
  - crummy 7y ago
    How does the tab-to-search feature in Chrome negatively affect how you use the address bar? Are you entering URLs with tabs in them?
    - grimgrin 7y ago
      It doesn’t negatively effect it. I like it I was highlighting what I missed when switching over
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
Stormwalker 7y ago
You're good to go! Just enable it in settings!

latexr 7y ago

> Doesn't hurt that Firefox is actually a great product. Arguably. On these threads there is always a handful of complaints about the state of Firefox, mostly on macOS. On my machine, I can’t even launch Firefox in headless mode without the fans turning on, which never happened on Chrome. While I haven’t benchmarked it, for normal browsing it does feel slower than Crome. But what kills it for me is their crippled AppleScript support. Firefox is the worst major browser (even worse than smaller browsers) for an automator on macOS. I rely on browser control every day, so Firefox is useless to me. I’d sooner switch to Safari, which despite laughable controls (can’t even disable JavaScript on a per-website basis) I can do something with.

jb1991 7y ago
Yeah, unfortunately, Mozilla has consistently demonstrated over recent years that it doesn't care about Mac users. It's weird, to be honest. The widespread issues for many, though not all, Mac users, will not make it a ubiquituous browser.
- gnomewascool 7y ago
  What's even weirder is that a significant proportion of Mozilla's developers use Macs as their main platform (if I recall correctly the most popular platforms are Linux, then Macs and Windows a very distant third).
- disordinary 7y ago
  I use a mac and firefox is my main browser, I don't remember having any problems.
  - bogidon 7y ago
    So do I. There are things like text replacement, download progress indication on file icons, and other Cocoa-esque things that don't work on Firefox, but outside a probably very small segment of users who would even notice these things, and a smaller yet segment who would actually care, Firefox feels at home enough in macOS. What I think damages Firefox's user-friendliness more is how easy it is to get to setting screens that look scary to the average user. For example Firefox recently started recommending an extension called "Enhancer for YouTube" when a user visits YouTube after upgrading to some new version of Firefox. Upon installing the extension, you get taken to the extension's settings screen which has a design that would definitely throw off my non-techie family members [1]. Also, take a look at the Firefox release notes for iOS [2] – sure it's "nice" for us devs to have access to raw GitHub issue labels or whatever those are – but for non-techie users they might be interpreted as conveying a certain messaging that Firefox is not really designed for them. [1] https://i.imgur.com/8TIetRA.png https://i.imgur.com/8TIetRA.png [2] https://i.imgur.com/QoUG1ZF.png https://i.imgur.com/QoUG1ZF.png

CalChris 7y ago

I already use Firefox on the iPhone. I think it’s better than Chrome. Probably gonna switch on the desktop.

ben-schaaf 7y ago
Is there any actual difference between the two beyond UI and sync? From what I understand they're both safari underneath?
- CalChris 7y ago
  I think you meant iOS WebKit for rendering rather than Safari. Firefox iOS uses WebKit while it used to use Gecko. I seem to remember speed being a difference. It’s been awhile. I also switched from gmail to outlook because gmail was using headers and footers for ads which was annoying on a 4” SE.
  - lol768 7y ago
    >while it used to use Gecko How was it ever permitted to use Gecko underneath? Have the iOS app rules changed in recent years? Did they used to be more permissive?
    - CalChris 7y ago
      Thanks, I was wrong about that. On iOS, Firefox switched to webkit for iOS for rendering (which includes JS). For the desktop, Firefox used and uses Gecko; the desktop version of course came first.
    - anticensor 7y ago
      Firefox-on-Store uses Webkit but there is an experimental fork using Gecko/Servo in case Apple allows in the future. You can build and developer-sign that fork for your own.