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I still use Firefox. I’m sticking around. It’s becoming more annoying to use, but I’d rather support Mozilla than anyone else. The window into the internet sho

I still use Firefox. I’m sticking around. It’s becoming more annoying to use, but I’d rather support Mozilla than anyone else. The window into the internet shouldn’t be controlled by big companies. It’s a principle thing for me. To the author, thanks for your efforts.

ppf 6y ago
I'm becoming more and more of the opinion that the web is dead and Google has won.
- alfiedotwtf 6y ago
  Same. But I’ll continue to use Firefox until someone turns out the lights...
  - EvilEy3 6y ago
    Same. Firefox + Lockwise is a great combination, will also use Mozilla VPN when that comes out.
    - tehbeard 6y ago
      Wasn't Mozilla VPN just a white label of a shady VPN company? Or did they switch partners? Vaguely recall some unsettledness when it was first announced.
      - deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
      - cbsks 6y ago
        They use Mullvad, which is a reputable VPN provider.
- jakub_g 6y ago
  It's not true, at least until the only allowed engine on iOS is Safari. And it's the Safari, not Firefox, who sets the lowest bar feature-wise and in dev experience for several years already.
- corobo 6y ago
  Maybe 5 years ago. There's all sorts of things pushing against Google now. Honestly the only reason I have interact with Google now is * Work uses it for email but that's pro me not personal me * YouTube * Calendar automations
Darmody 6y ago
Why it's becoming more annoying to use? I've been using as my main browser for years and it only gets better.
- systemvoltage 6y ago
  It's all the non-sense from Pocket to access to location settings isn't getting synced, etc.; I am being unfair though, it's not a problem.
  - MrDresden 6y ago
    Well that would be Pocket getting annoying then, not Firefox. A long time Firefox user here, and I only feel it is getting better with time (both desktop and mobile)
fireattack 6y ago
To me, using Firefox on desktop is easy. It is at least on par with competitors, if not better. Firefox on Android on the other hand (the one the author worked on), IMHO, is simply an inferior product. This is kinda understandable due to their small team size (and it looks like they're overworking too), but what I didn't get is why they kept revamping it. I don't have a clear timeline, but in my recent memory they at least did it twice. Also, plenty of "great features" for some reason stay in beta/alpha/nightly forever. This is particularly obvious if you visit /r/Firefox on Reddit frequently; you see "oh for that, just use beta/nightly version!" as answers for help/feature request threads too often. It's like they never finish these features to push into release channel. Anyway, it's getting harder and harder to stay using Firefox on Android. Especially after they essentially killed the extension ecosystem in Fenix.
- eloisant 6y ago
  Inferior to what? I have yet to find a browser that blocks ads on Android as efficiently as Firefox+uBlock.
  - fireattack 6y ago
    Chrome. It's just my personal opinion as a user, based on my own use case. Can't really detail, but mainly various UX issues. It feels unpolished. As for ad block, I use DNS based blocker apps like adgarud on my phone.
  - rolandog 6y ago
    I agree! In my case, I additionally use NoScript as well with both the mobile and desktop browsers. It's such a great experience.
  - AlchemistCamp 6y ago
    DDG browser is pretty good on Android.
  - LegitShady 6y ago
    Brave
Klwohu 6y ago
Me too, at least it's still possible to drill down into the settings and use user.js to stop all the telemetry which verges on spyware. Chromium doesn't afford you that option.
traveler01 6y ago
I was all in for Firefox but I had to stop sucking it. Browser it's just inferior compared to Chrome or other Chromium browsers. As a web developer I can't have my browser crashing, slowing my work down and having an inferior developer mode which only feature I find useful are the rulers. This, specially after I found out that the directors at the company kept getting their wages increased was the nail in the coffin. I just can't stand knowing these people are getting rewarded for such a shitty job, even worse now knowing that they have small teams (obviously not able to deliver the products we expect them to) and worse of all forcing these people to overwork. Google is not a saint, but neither is Mozilla. I'll just stick to the browser that better fullfil my needs ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
apostacy 6y ago
> The window into the internet shouldn’t be controlled by big companies. It’s a principle thing for me. That's exactly why I stopped with Mozilla. They are just a proxy for corporate controlled interests. And it is heartbreaking. Every single battle, they have folded. Nearly every decision they have made has aligned with corporate interests. And then they issue a paternalistic statement saying that selling out is in our best interest. - They embraced EME web DRM. They didn't have to. They could have taken the position that if someone wants DRM they should do it via Flash or Silverlight, or some other external means. They could have just done nothing. They didn't have to legitimize it as a concept. It would have been so powerful if they had just done nothing. - They killed off RSS support for no good reason. The cost to maintain it would have been less than their office carpet cleaning budget. They don't see RSS as an integral part of the web. They see it as a toy, not worth including by default. And thanks to their attitude, RSS is actually becoming that way. - They killed off XUL based extensions, and embraced a much more limited extension system (but at least it is more compatible and less differentiated with Google!). The functionality that was lost has not been restored. The job of Mozilla was to be an EXAMPLE, more than to be popular. And they have accomplished neither. I was with them since the start. Firefox was amazing when it was NOT compatible with Internet Explorer 6, and not trying to be! I'm so glad that they had enough faith in their own vision of the web to risk turning off less technical users. And we were all better for it. Mozilla has failed us, and the best outcome is for the Mozilla foundation to go bankrupt, so that maybe we can pick up the pieces.
- dralley 6y ago
  > They embraced EME web DRM. They did not. They fought against it until it was clear they weren't going to win the fight. > They didn't have to. They could have taken the position that if someone wants DRM they should do it via Flash or Silverlight, or some other external means. That is not a reasonable position. Adobe was already in the process of killing Flash and Microsoft is the developer of Silverlight, and they were pro-EME. That's setting aside the multi-decade history of security disasters those plugins caused. > They didn't have to legitimize it as a concept. It would have been so powerful if they had just done nothing. It would not, it would have killed them overnight. 99% of the population doesn't give a shit, they just want to watch Netflix (etc.), and they'd stop using Firefox the day Netflix (etc.) stopped working. That's true even of most Linux users which is the only population that might would care whatsoever. > They killed off XUL based extensions, and embraced a much more limited extension system (but at least it is more compatible and less differentiated with Google!). The functionality that was lost has not been restored. XUL extensions were horrifically insecure and often caused terrible memory leaks that got blamed on Firefox - they also prevented proper sandboxing and multiprocess functionality from being implemented. Although your defense of Flash and Silverlight leads me to believe you don't care much about security. >the best outcome is for the Mozilla foundation to go bankrupt, so that maybe we can pick up the pieces. You're delusional if you think that anything good would come of that. If that's how you feel, why wait? Go build something now.

ppf 6y ago

I'm becoming more and more of the opinion that the web is dead and Google has won.

alfiedotwtf 6y ago
Same. But I’ll continue to use Firefox until someone turns out the lights...
- EvilEy3 6y ago
  Same. Firefox + Lockwise is a great combination, will also use Mozilla VPN when that comes out.
  - tehbeard 6y ago
    Wasn't Mozilla VPN just a white label of a shady VPN company? Or did they switch partners? Vaguely recall some unsettledness when it was first announced.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - cbsks 6y ago
      They use Mullvad, which is a reputable VPN provider.
jakub_g 6y ago
It's not true, at least until the only allowed engine on iOS is Safari. And it's the Safari, not Firefox, who sets the lowest bar feature-wise and in dev experience for several years already.
corobo 6y ago
Maybe 5 years ago. There's all sorts of things pushing against Google now. Honestly the only reason I have interact with Google now is * Work uses it for email but that's pro me not personal me * YouTube * Calendar automations

Darmody 6y ago

Why it's becoming more annoying to use? I've been using as my main browser for years and it only gets better.

systemvoltage 6y ago
It's all the non-sense from Pocket to access to location settings isn't getting synced, etc.; I am being unfair though, it's not a problem.
- MrDresden 6y ago
  Well that would be Pocket getting annoying then, not Firefox. A long time Firefox user here, and I only feel it is getting better with time (both desktop and mobile)

fireattack 6y ago

To me, using Firefox on desktop is easy. It is at least on par with competitors, if not better. Firefox on Android on the other hand (the one the author worked on), IMHO, is simply an inferior product. This is kinda understandable due to their small team size (and it looks like they're overworking too), but what I didn't get is why they kept revamping it. I don't have a clear timeline, but in my recent memory they at least did it twice. Also, plenty of "great features" for some reason stay in beta/alpha/nightly forever. This is particularly obvious if you visit /r/Firefox on Reddit frequently; you see "oh for that, just use beta/nightly version!" as answers for help/feature request threads too often. It's like they never finish these features to push into release channel. Anyway, it's getting harder and harder to stay using Firefox on Android. Especially after they essentially killed the extension ecosystem in Fenix.

eloisant 6y ago
Inferior to what? I have yet to find a browser that blocks ads on Android as efficiently as Firefox+uBlock.
- fireattack 6y ago
  Chrome. It's just my personal opinion as a user, based on my own use case. Can't really detail, but mainly various UX issues. It feels unpolished. As for ad block, I use DNS based blocker apps like adgarud on my phone.
- rolandog 6y ago
  I agree! In my case, I additionally use NoScript as well with both the mobile and desktop browsers. It's such a great experience.
- AlchemistCamp 6y ago
  DDG browser is pretty good on Android.
- LegitShady 6y ago
  Brave

Klwohu 6y ago

Me too, at least it's still possible to drill down into the settings and use user.js to stop all the telemetry which verges on spyware. Chromium doesn't afford you that option.

traveler01 6y ago

I was all in for Firefox but I had to stop sucking it. Browser it's just inferior compared to Chrome or other Chromium browsers. As a web developer I can't have my browser crashing, slowing my work down and having an inferior developer mode which only feature I find useful are the rulers. This, specially after I found out that the directors at the company kept getting their wages increased was the nail in the coffin. I just can't stand knowing these people are getting rewarded for such a shitty job, even worse now knowing that they have small teams (obviously not able to deliver the products we expect them to) and worse of all forcing these people to overwork. Google is not a saint, but neither is Mozilla. I'll just stick to the browser that better fullfil my needs ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

apostacy 6y ago

> The window into the internet shouldn’t be controlled by big companies. It’s a principle thing for me. That's exactly why I stopped with Mozilla. They are just a proxy for corporate controlled interests. And it is heartbreaking. Every single battle, they have folded. Nearly every decision they have made has aligned with corporate interests. And then they issue a paternalistic statement saying that selling out is in our best interest. - They embraced EME web DRM. They didn't have to. They could have taken the position that if someone wants DRM they should do it via Flash or Silverlight, or some other external means. They could have just done nothing. They didn't have to legitimize it as a concept. It would have been so powerful if they had just done nothing. - They killed off RSS support for no good reason. The cost to maintain it would have been less than their office carpet cleaning budget. They don't see RSS as an integral part of the web. They see it as a toy, not worth including by default. And thanks to their attitude, RSS is actually becoming that way. - They killed off XUL based extensions, and embraced a much more limited extension system (but at least it is more compatible and less differentiated with Google!). The functionality that was lost has not been restored. The job of Mozilla was to be an EXAMPLE, more than to be popular. And they have accomplished neither. I was with them since the start. Firefox was amazing when it was NOT compatible with Internet Explorer 6, and not trying to be! I'm so glad that they had enough faith in their own vision of the web to risk turning off less technical users. And we were all better for it. Mozilla has failed us, and the best outcome is for the Mozilla foundation to go bankrupt, so that maybe we can pick up the pieces.

dralley 6y ago
> They embraced EME web DRM. They did not. They fought against it until it was clear they weren't going to win the fight. > They didn't have to. They could have taken the position that if someone wants DRM they should do it via Flash or Silverlight, or some other external means. That is not a reasonable position. Adobe was already in the process of killing Flash and Microsoft is the developer of Silverlight, and they were pro-EME. That's setting aside the multi-decade history of security disasters those plugins caused. > They didn't have to legitimize it as a concept. It would have been so powerful if they had just done nothing. It would not, it would have killed them overnight. 99% of the population doesn't give a shit, they just want to watch Netflix (etc.), and they'd stop using Firefox the day Netflix (etc.) stopped working. That's true even of most Linux users which is the only population that might would care whatsoever. > They killed off XUL based extensions, and embraced a much more limited extension system (but at least it is more compatible and less differentiated with Google!). The functionality that was lost has not been restored. XUL extensions were horrifically insecure and often caused terrible memory leaks that got blamed on Firefox - they also prevented proper sandboxing and multiprocess functionality from being implemented. Although your defense of Flash and Silverlight leads me to believe you don't care much about security. >the best outcome is for the Mozilla foundation to go bankrupt, so that maybe we can pick up the pieces. You're delusional if you think that anything good would come of that. If that's how you feel, why wait? Go build something now.