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Ask HN: What desktop applications would you most like to see “Firefoxed”?
Firefox (originally named Phoenix, then Firebird) was, in 2002, a reaction against the Netscape Suite™'s kitchen-sink approach of piling on features in order to tick marketing checkboxes, and an increasingly complex user interface that wasn't serving users very well.
What desktop software do you wish would (or could) be reborn today as a leaner, simpler alternative?
- znpy 6y agoFirefox itself. FF'S, I love Firefox but stop dumping crap like pockets and containers on me, I just want a lightning fast browser with multicore/multithread performance. F--k containers, profiles are way better. Oh and I want tab groups back.
- tleb_ 6y agoWait, you complain about feature creep then list two non trivial features you want in Firefox?
- znpy 6y agoYes and both are core features. Tab groups were already present in Firefox and have been removed. Multicore/multithread is about performance.
- zufallsheld 6y agoContainers are an addon.
- znpy 6y agoI wouldn't know. I know FOR SURE I din't install the containers addon, yet I find them in my firefox. If it's an addon but comes preinstalled, is it still an add-on ?
- zufallsheld 6y agoIt does not come pre-installed by default. I don't know where you got your copy from, but it is kit the default.
- curryst 6y agoFwiw, I also have Containers on my Firefox, and I'm 99% sure I didn't install it. I've never used them, but I suppose it's not out of the realm of possibility that I installed them while hacking on a side project at 4am and forgot about it.
- uberman 6y agoFor simple image manipulation, I still use a very old copy of paint shop pro (pre corel) It starts instantly without the irritating delay of even great utilities like gimp. I wish there was a modern gimp light that reduced the features and start times.
- garmaine 6y agoAre you aware of Paint.NET? To name one of many.
- rotterdamdev 6y agoGimp starts in 2 seconds on my r5 3600 from an SSD. Try Linux if you are on Windows.
- scott31 6y agoGNOME Shell
- webmaven 6y agoInteresting... what exactly is the bloat and complexity that a simpler version of Gnome Shell would avoid?
- rotterdamdev 6y agoIt's single threaded to this day. A widget hanging on a webserver can lock up the whole desktop. It needed a rewrite years ago, and things have only become worse regarding tech debt.
- qppo 6y agoI don't want desktop apps to be leaner nearly as much as I want web apps to be leaner. Today it took me two minutes to load a link to a meme on Facebook that a friend sent me via messenger on a 2016 MacBook Air. Two minutes to load a page with a meme and some comments.
- zzo38computer 6y agoI may want to see command-line alternatives to some GUI software. What I want is software that is less stupid. Allow use together with other software. Some things may be split into separate programs which can then be piped together, e.g. if you have a NSF music player then they might be: - Execute the 6502 code in the NSF file and write the register writes and delays to stdout. - Read the register writes and delays from stdin and use that to generate an audio signal to stdout. - Play the audio on the speaker, or else encoding it as Opus or recording it on a CD or whatever, can be the third one, which would also be able to apply filters and global volume control and stuff if you want to do.