5 ms·

Developers are not fungible. The social integration work was mostly HTML5 and JavaScript, and Firefox OS is partly kernel and OS work (B2G), and partly HTML5/Ja

Developers are not fungible. The social integration work was mostly HTML5 and JavaScript, and Firefox OS is partly kernel and OS work (B2G), and partly HTML5/JavaScript work (Gaia). 64-bit builds on Windows requires Windows developers, who are focusing on the Metro UI. EDIT: I'm responding to your edit here: > A few weeks ago I tried to delete some of my history from Firefox, I opened the history window, hit Shift and selected about 6 months of history and hit delete, and it took Firefox about an hour to delete the history all the while the UI going from responding to not responding back and forth. I would imagine the Firefox developers spend their time optimizing the parts of their browser that users would most likely use. I suspect that they are not terribly worried about an action that users would take (at most) once every six months. EDIT2: I guess I'll respond to this one too: > The web browser has become the most important app on the PC, with more and more web pages demanding more and more resources, I really wish Mozilla would refocus on making the best web browser available. Making the best web browser is not Mozilla's goal. Their goal is to "promote openness, innovation & opportunity on the Web" [1]. Integrating social features into the browser is part of that, in the sense that users will be able to control their social presence from their browser, rather than being locked-in to a specific social provider's web site. Mozilla's actions are not inconsistent with their stated mission. (Whether you agree with that mission is another argument entirely). [1]: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/mission/ https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/mission/

joenathan 14y ago
According to W3Schools[1] ~84% of web traffic comes from Windows users. In light of that wouldn't it make more sense to hire more Windows developers? If cuts have to be made it doesn't seem reasonable to make cuts to your main source of revenue. edit: In response to your edit: >Making the best web browser is not Mozilla's goal. Their goal is to "promote openness, innovation & opportunity on the Web" If Mozilla's goal isn't to make the best web browser then no one will end up using their browser, and if no one uses their browser then they wont be able to "promote openness, innovation & opportunity on the Web", no market share = no voice. During the days of IE6's dominance Mozilla got its large user base because it was the best browser available. Mozilla is in danger of hemorrhaging users if it continues making these sort of decisions. Us "hackers" got Mozilla its user base, we started using it first and convinced our family, friends, workmates/workplaces to switch. If the power users leave, the rest will be soon to follow. [1]http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp
- iamthad 14y ago
  This is off-topic, but you should know that there are a number of significant issues with W3Schools that prevent it from being a reputable source: http://w3fools.com/ http://w3fools.com/
  - joenathan 14y ago
    Thanks, I didn't know W3Schools wasn't trust worthy.
- astrodust 14y ago
  No offense, but anyone who visits w3schools is probably clueless and lost. It's a terrible resource that needs to be destroyed, scrubbed from the search results like Stack Overflow did to Experts Exchange, all for the sake of humanity. I'm surprised only 84% of the traffic is Windows users.
  - robryan 14y ago
    That is ridiculous. Sure it isn't the best resource available and on some things makes some out of date or wrong recommendations. I have gotten refreshed on basics plenty of times though from a wc3schools links. Does that make me less of a developer? You are also implying that developers using windows are all second rate.
    - astrodust 14y ago
      What I'm implying is that a lot of Windows developers don't have a choice. It's the standard issue computer they're given. Maybe they work for a gigantic company with a fossilized IT department. Maybe they work for the government. Either way those kinds of organizations are not running Linux or OS X or Chrome OS. There is a very strong bias towards Windows because of that. If you subtract that quotient from the general pool of "Windows developers" it becomes much more of a fair comparison. Yes, there's useful things on w3schools, but like picking through a trash heap full of rusted bicycles and used syringes, it's a dangerous expedition. You might pick up some awful bad habits along the way.
martinced 14y ago
> I would imagine the Firefox developers spend their time optimizing the parts of their browser that users would most likely use. I suspect that they are not terribly worried about an action that users would take (at most) once every six months. I stopped using Firefox years ago. Reading an apology on a tech site explaining why, in 2012, it's acceptable that deleting 6 months of history can take one hour (!) gives me confidence that I'll never ever go back to Firefox.
- kamjam 14y ago
  I only use Firefox for development now, mainly for Firebug (and related plugins) but now I am starting to use the Chrome dev tools much much more. The only plugin I am missing to fully ditch FF is Selenium IDE. I stopped using FF when I left my previous job, synced up my bookmarks before I left but then was unable to retrieve them because I had not written down the access guid. I'll just sync with my Google account and be done with it! > I would imagine the Firefox developers spend their time optimizing the parts of their browser that users would most likely use. I suspect that they are not terribly worried about an action that users would take (at most) once every six months. I wish I could use that excuse at work, but it doesn't work like that.
  - greyboy 14y ago
    In fairness, Chrome/Chromium have their own set of issues. I use both browsers and come across crashes, poor renderings, bad performance, etc. I still prefer Firefox for a few extensions I use, though. I stopped using FF when I left my previous job, synced up my bookmarks before I left but then was unable to retrieve them because I had not written down the access guid. I'll just sync with my Google account and be done with it! Having been a user and developer for almost any time, I would never have relied on that! A simple bookmark export, spot check for some URLs, USB drive/email/FTP to somewhere. I've always done that when leaving jobs (along with other personal things or notes/application settings). Maybe I'm too cautious, but I've always ended up with a good copy of my data.
    - kamjam 14y ago

joenathan 14y ago

According to W3Schools[1] ~84% of web traffic comes from Windows users. In light of that wouldn't it make more sense to hire more Windows developers? If cuts have to be made it doesn't seem reasonable to make cuts to your main source of revenue. edit: In response to your edit: >Making the best web browser is not Mozilla's goal. Their goal is to "promote openness, innovation & opportunity on the Web" If Mozilla's goal isn't to make the best web browser then no one will end up using their browser, and if no one uses their browser then they wont be able to "promote openness, innovation & opportunity on the Web", no market share = no voice. During the days of IE6's dominance Mozilla got its large user base because it was the best browser available. Mozilla is in danger of hemorrhaging users if it continues making these sort of decisions. Us "hackers" got Mozilla its user base, we started using it first and convinced our family, friends, workmates/workplaces to switch. If the power users leave, the rest will be soon to follow. [1]http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_os.asp

iamthad 14y ago
This is off-topic, but you should know that there are a number of significant issues with W3Schools that prevent it from being a reputable source: http://w3fools.com/ http://w3fools.com/
- joenathan 14y ago
  Thanks, I didn't know W3Schools wasn't trust worthy.
astrodust 14y ago
No offense, but anyone who visits w3schools is probably clueless and lost. It's a terrible resource that needs to be destroyed, scrubbed from the search results like Stack Overflow did to Experts Exchange, all for the sake of humanity. I'm surprised only 84% of the traffic is Windows users.
- robryan 14y ago
  That is ridiculous. Sure it isn't the best resource available and on some things makes some out of date or wrong recommendations. I have gotten refreshed on basics plenty of times though from a wc3schools links. Does that make me less of a developer? You are also implying that developers using windows are all second rate.
  - astrodust 14y ago
    What I'm implying is that a lot of Windows developers don't have a choice. It's the standard issue computer they're given. Maybe they work for a gigantic company with a fossilized IT department. Maybe they work for the government. Either way those kinds of organizations are not running Linux or OS X or Chrome OS. There is a very strong bias towards Windows because of that. If you subtract that quotient from the general pool of "Windows developers" it becomes much more of a fair comparison. Yes, there's useful things on w3schools, but like picking through a trash heap full of rusted bicycles and used syringes, it's a dangerous expedition. You might pick up some awful bad habits along the way.

martinced 14y ago

> I would imagine the Firefox developers spend their time optimizing the parts of their browser that users would most likely use. I suspect that they are not terribly worried about an action that users would take (at most) once every six months. I stopped using Firefox years ago. Reading an apology on a tech site explaining why, in 2012, it's acceptable that deleting 6 months of history can take one hour (!) gives me confidence that I'll never ever go back to Firefox.

kamjam 14y ago
I only use Firefox for development now, mainly for Firebug (and related plugins) but now I am starting to use the Chrome dev tools much much more. The only plugin I am missing to fully ditch FF is Selenium IDE. I stopped using FF when I left my previous job, synced up my bookmarks before I left but then was unable to retrieve them because I had not written down the access guid. I'll just sync with my Google account and be done with it! > I would imagine the Firefox developers spend their time optimizing the parts of their browser that users would most likely use. I suspect that they are not terribly worried about an action that users would take (at most) once every six months. I wish I could use that excuse at work, but it doesn't work like that.
- greyboy 14y ago
  In fairness, Chrome/Chromium have their own set of issues. I use both browsers and come across crashes, poor renderings, bad performance, etc. I still prefer Firefox for a few extensions I use, though. I stopped using FF when I left my previous job, synced up my bookmarks before I left but then was unable to retrieve them because I had not written down the access guid. I'll just sync with my Google account and be done with it! Having been a user and developer for almost any time, I would never have relied on that! A simple bookmark export, spot check for some URLs, USB drive/email/FTP to somewhere. I've always done that when leaving jobs (along with other personal things or notes/application settings). Maybe I'm too cautious, but I've always ended up with a good copy of my data.
  - kamjam 14y ago