5 ms·

Firefox Has Moved to Firefox.com

135 points by pentagrama 1y ago

globular-toast 1y ago
Where was it before? Been using Firefox non stop for 20 years but last time I went to the website was probably when I still used Windows XP.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- Insanity 1y ago
  Yeah same.. I have no clue where it was hosted and been using it for 2 decades too.
- jchw 1y ago
  I believe it was getfirefox.com, which I remember primarily from adding banners to websites I ran back in the day. I forgot who previously owned firefox.com but I recall them adding a link to getfirefox.com on it back in the day.
- rafram 1y ago
  https://web.archive.org/web/20250415002534/https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/ https://web.archive.org/web/20250415002534/https://www.mozil...
  - notfed 1y ago
    In other words, the download page used to be: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
    - jraph 1y ago
      And mozilla-europe.org in Europe for some reason, a long time ago at least. At a time when you'd also install spybot and ccleaner.
- TheLML 1y ago
  Last time I downloaded it it must've been the mozilla website
- tech234a 1y ago
  I always liked https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/ https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/ but that's not the primary consumer page.
  - aspenmayer 1y ago
    I hear that they don’t embed tracking metadata in those builds on the FTP, but I haven’t confirmed that. The normal download page embeds a unique tracking alphanumeric string in your build that is reported to the organization on a regular basis when the telemetry phones home unless you disable this manually and clear the values.
    - pixxel 1y ago
      [dead]
    - HelloUsername 1y ago
      > I hear that they don’t embed tracking metadata in those builds on the FTP, but I haven’t confirmed that. https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1677497#c0 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1677497#c0
      - aspenmayer 1y ago
        Thanks for that authoritative source. Is Firefox a honeypot? I can’t see how this serves the user. All telemetry should be opt-in, not opt-out. We want failsafe, not faildeadly.
bobsoap 1y ago
Finally! No more "You know, you should really get Firefox, it's super easy. First you need to go to this other website though. Yes, I know, I know. Just trust me, okay?"
- everfree 1y ago
  Chrome = Google.com Edge = Microsoft.com Safari = Apple.com Seems like Firefox is now the outlier, not the other way around. Now Firefox is the only browser with a home page domain the same as its common name. (Note: I’m not saying that I think it’s a bad thing.)
  - Medea 1y ago
    chrome.com redirects to www.google.com/chrome/ No one has to download Edge or Safari.
    - sebastiennight 1y ago
      No one wants ... FTFY
      - jacobgkau 1y ago
        I know you're making a joke, but I enjoyed having Safari installed when Apple made it for Windows too, and would still want to download it today if it was available. You can't, though.
    - tech234a 1y ago
      Technically Edge can also be installed on macOS/Linux/iOS/Android.
    - ascorbic 1y ago
      Ahem https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/mac https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/mac
  - _Algernon_ 1y ago
firesteelrain 1y ago
It was on Mozilla.org before redirecting to getfirefox.com. Now, Mozilla has acquired Firefox.com and that’s the new canonical home. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37279788 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37279788
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- altairprime 1y ago
  When did Firefox Sync start using accounts.firefox.com for their login site? One assumes they’ve owned it since at least then, if not before. https://github.com/search?q=repo%3Amozilla-firefox%2Ffirefox+%22accounts.firefox.com%22&type=commits https://github.com/search?q=repo%3Amozilla-firefox%2Ffirefox... says 2014? So probably earlier than that, though I don't know for sure when.
Hansenq 1y ago
Seems like up until last month firefox.com redirected to mozilla.org/firefox. Now they're finally using their .com domain! https://web.archive.org/web/20250201000000*/firefox.com https://web.archive.org/web/20250201000000*/firefox.com
AdmiralAsshat 1y ago
It was always getfirefox.com for many years. Was someone simply squatting on the firefox.com domain and asking some exorbitant price from Mozilla to relinquish it?
- xaerise 1y ago
  It was owned by a UK company called Firefox. They actually linked to both Mozilla and Get Firefox for many years as a landing page. When the company shut down, the owner owned it and redirected it to getfirefox.com instead of making a profit from it.
  - Traubenfuchs 1y ago
    That‘s… commendable… or foolish? I would have rented or sold it to the highest bidder.
    - yogorenapan 1y ago
      And what, have it serve as malware/phishing? Thankfully most people still seem to have morals and not fallen prey to pure capitalism
      - Daviey 1y ago
        Pretty good place to download Chrome or IE, depending who bought it.
        nicce 1y ago
        Looking for Firefox? Sorry, it has been officially discontinued. Here is something better.
      - Traubenfuchs 1y ago
        You are thinking all wrong, I wouldn't want to connect some hardcore wirefraud to myself. I would have found someone on upwork to write me a firefox fork that contains a crypto miner. The website would have some small print checkbox, making end users actively consent to mining crypto as payment for using the browser for free.
pmdr 1y ago
So now we can finally expect marketshare to explode all the way up to 3%?
mwcz 1y ago
Am I the only one with deja vu? I distinctly remember a story, shortly after Firefox's initial launch, of a firefox.com domain owner gifting it to Mozilla. Maybe it was getfirefox.com and I'm just getting old and confused.
geor9e 1y ago
People will still search "firefox" and click the first Bing Search Paid Ad to install it

135 points by pentagrama 1y ago

Where was it before? Been using Firefox non stop for 20 years but last time I went to the website was probably when I still used Windows XP.

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
Insanity 1y ago
Yeah same.. I have no clue where it was hosted and been using it for 2 decades too.
jchw 1y ago
I believe it was getfirefox.com, which I remember primarily from adding banners to websites I ran back in the day. I forgot who previously owned firefox.com but I recall them adding a link to getfirefox.com on it back in the day.
rafram 1y ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20250415002534/https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/ https://web.archive.org/web/20250415002534/https://www.mozil...
- notfed 1y ago
  In other words, the download page used to be: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/
  - jraph 1y ago
    And mozilla-europe.org in Europe for some reason, a long time ago at least. At a time when you'd also install spybot and ccleaner.
TheLML 1y ago
Last time I downloaded it it must've been the mozilla website
tech234a 1y ago
I always liked https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/ https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/ but that's not the primary consumer page.
- aspenmayer 1y ago
  I hear that they don’t embed tracking metadata in those builds on the FTP, but I haven’t confirmed that. The normal download page embeds a unique tracking alphanumeric string in your build that is reported to the organization on a regular basis when the telemetry phones home unless you disable this manually and clear the values.
  - pixxel 1y ago
    [dead]
  - HelloUsername 1y ago
    > I hear that they don’t embed tracking metadata in those builds on the FTP, but I haven’t confirmed that. https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1677497#c0 https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1677497#c0
    - aspenmayer 1y ago
      Thanks for that authoritative source. Is Firefox a honeypot? I can’t see how this serves the user. All telemetry should be opt-in, not opt-out. We want failsafe, not faildeadly.

bobsoap 1y ago

Finally! No more "You know, you should really get Firefox, it's super easy. First you need to go to this other website though. Yes, I know, I know. Just trust me, okay?"

everfree 1y ago
Chrome = Google.com Edge = Microsoft.com Safari = Apple.com Seems like Firefox is now the outlier, not the other way around. Now Firefox is the only browser with a home page domain the same as its common name. (Note: I’m not saying that I think it’s a bad thing.)
- Medea 1y ago
  chrome.com redirects to www.google.com/chrome/ No one has to download Edge or Safari.
  - sebastiennight 1y ago
    No one wants ... FTFY
    - jacobgkau 1y ago
      I know you're making a joke, but I enjoyed having Safari installed when Apple made it for Windows too, and would still want to download it today if it was available. You can't, though.
  - tech234a 1y ago
    Technically Edge can also be installed on macOS/Linux/iOS/Android.
  - ascorbic 1y ago
    Ahem https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/mac https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/mac
- _Algernon_ 1y ago

firesteelrain 1y ago

It was on Mozilla.org before redirecting to getfirefox.com. Now, Mozilla has acquired Firefox.com and that’s the new canonical home. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37279788 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37279788

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
altairprime 1y ago
When did Firefox Sync start using accounts.firefox.com for their login site? One assumes they’ve owned it since at least then, if not before. https://github.com/search?q=repo%3Amozilla-firefox%2Ffirefox+%22accounts.firefox.com%22&type=commits https://github.com/search?q=repo%3Amozilla-firefox%2Ffirefox... says 2014? So probably earlier than that, though I don't know for sure when.

Hansenq 1y ago

Seems like up until last month firefox.com redirected to mozilla.org/firefox. Now they're finally using their .com domain! https://web.archive.org/web/20250201000000*/firefox.com https://web.archive.org/web/20250201000000*/firefox.com

AdmiralAsshat 1y ago

It was always getfirefox.com for many years. Was someone simply squatting on the firefox.com domain and asking some exorbitant price from Mozilla to relinquish it?

xaerise 1y ago
It was owned by a UK company called Firefox. They actually linked to both Mozilla and Get Firefox for many years as a landing page. When the company shut down, the owner owned it and redirected it to getfirefox.com instead of making a profit from it.
- Traubenfuchs 1y ago
  That‘s… commendable… or foolish? I would have rented or sold it to the highest bidder.
  - yogorenapan 1y ago
    And what, have it serve as malware/phishing? Thankfully most people still seem to have morals and not fallen prey to pure capitalism
    - Daviey 1y ago
      Pretty good place to download Chrome or IE, depending who bought it.
      - nicce 1y ago
        Looking for Firefox? Sorry, it has been officially discontinued. Here is something better.
    - Traubenfuchs 1y ago
      You are thinking all wrong, I wouldn't want to connect some hardcore wirefraud to myself. I would have found someone on upwork to write me a firefox fork that contains a crypto miner. The website would have some small print checkbox, making end users actively consent to mining crypto as payment for using the browser for free.

pmdr 1y ago

So now we can finally expect marketshare to explode all the way up to 3%?

mwcz 1y ago

Am I the only one with deja vu? I distinctly remember a story, shortly after Firefox's initial launch, of a firefox.com domain owner gifting it to Mozilla. Maybe it was getfirefox.com and I'm just getting old and confused.

geor9e 1y ago

People will still search "firefox" and click the first Bing Search Paid Ad to install it