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Ask HN: Who's switched from Chrome to Firefox 57?

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Re: Ask HN: Who's switched from Chrome to Firefox 57?

#101

Post by bugmen0t »

hosh wrote: post #66

I already use container tabs for my dev. (Usually have to test an app using multiple test accounts). I have not figured out how to run a second copy of Firefox that is fixed into a different workspace -- but if I ever do, I will switch on my work laptop. My personal laptop, an old 2011 Mac Air is definitely switching. Chrome just runs too poorly on that now, and container tabs is too useful. It's really interesting,…

What you call workspace is likely called profiles. Try running Firefox --new-instance -p

Re: Ask HN: Who's switched from Chrome to Firefox 57?

#103

Post by derefr »

jacek wrote: post #100
on_and_off wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>We may share aggregated, non-personally identifiable information publicly and with partners — like publishers, advertisers or web developers. I don't really understand the issue people have with aggregated information. All the companies I have worked for have been tracking how people use their product. It does not feel like I am invading somebody's privacy by tracking that 20% of our users clicked on the banner in o…

I believe that no information about user actions and behaviors should be recorded by a browser. It does not benefit the user in any way, only Google and advertisers. Also we should remember that data needs to be stored first before it is aggregated. What happens with information about each single event?

> It does not benefit the user in any way

Really? The browser-maker learning what features people use vs. don't, or what features are fast vs. slow on actual user machines, doesn't benefit the user by getting them a better browser over time?

I would like it if the statistics from Chrome in particular, were sent to Chromium-project servers rather than Google servers, though. Even if only Google's derivative of Chromium is collecting the stats, the Chromium-project staff are who will (theoretically) make the best use of the information so collected; and so it'd be much better for them (as a non-profit org) to steward that data, rather than it ending up owned by Google.

(Yes, yes, a majority of the Chromium-project staff are Google employees; that doesn't change how changing the data's ownership would change what Google thinks it has a right to do with it.)

Re: Ask HN: Who's switched from Chrome to Firefox 57?

#104

Post by ojame »

ccakes wrote: post #27
ojame wrote: post #16

I've given it a decent shot - but it still has very average profile support, which I use daily. In Chrome, it's easy to see what profile I'm using (top right corner of the window), and very easy to switch. In Firefox, you need to go to about:profiles to even see what profile you're currently using.

Check out Containers - it goes a long way towards solving this problem. I also used to rely heavily on Chrome profiles https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Contextual_Identity_Projec...

Containers seem like a compromise that I can live with to give FF57 a better shot.

They share history/bookmarks, which I'm not a fan of. I prefer my work profiles not to have reddit/hacker news etc. in the auto fill address bar.

Re: Ask HN: Who's switched from Chrome to Firefox 57?

#106

Post by yoklov »

on_and_off wrote: post #96

I tried to yesterday. Gave up after two minutes when I did not see any performance change. I have a recent machine where Chrome is already pretty fast, I am not sure in which conditions it slows down, but it looks like they don't apply to me. Also, I would need a plugin in order to allow me to access my chrome tab history in Firefox. That way I would keep the same multi device experience while switching to FF on desk…

You should be able to import your history from chrome, and then use firefox sync.

Or am I misunderstanding what you're looking for?

Re: Ask HN: Who's switched from Chrome to Firefox 57?

#108

Post by tsuujin »

jacek wrote: post #100
on_and_off wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>We may share aggregated, non-personally identifiable information publicly and with partners — like publishers, advertisers or web developers. I don't really understand the issue people have with aggregated information. All the companies I have worked for have been tracking how people use their product. It does not feel like I am invading somebody's privacy by tracking that 20% of our users clicked on the banner in o…

I believe that no information about user actions and behaviors should be recorded by a browser. It does not benefit the user in any way, only Google and advertisers. Also we should remember that data needs to be stored first before it is aggregated. What happens with information about each single event?

As a web developer, this claim is patently false.

Reviewing aggregated user behavior data is how good UIs get built. It helps us to identify pain points, confusing or misrepresented user paths, poor hierarchy or site structure, poorly indicated calls to action, and many other valuable metrics.

Every positive user experience you've ever had online has been derived from countless hours of studying user behavior, and the larger the source the better it gets.

Also note that aggregated user data is typically anonymous, but there is a lot to be said for keeping it identifiable. Some of the best tools for debugging customer support issues start by recording your clicks so a developer can see exactly what caused an issue, rather than guessing and hoping.

Re: Ask HN: Who's switched from Chrome to Firefox 57?

#109

Post by scrollaway »

girzel wrote: post #48

Switched yesterday, so far loving it! My objection to Chrome was mostly on principle (anti-Google), so it's nice that there's a performance-based reason to switch to Firefox as well. Though I just ran into a problem that reminded me of why I stopped using Firefox in the first place: I used xdg-open a lot (in Emacs), and Firefox tries to supplant that whole functionality. It advertises itself as being able to open pre…

It's better than it used to -- until a couple of years ago, Firefox altogether had its own awful version of xdg-open; had all the logic to detect file associations, select apps etc.

In any event, you can edit ~/.config/mimeapps.list to fix it up. Hope that helps.

Re: Ask HN: Who's switched from Chrome to Firefox 57?

#110

Post by on_and_off »

derefr wrote: post #103
jacek wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe that no information about user actions and behaviors should be recorded by a browser. It does not benefit the user in any way, only Google and advertisers. Also we should remember that data needs to be stored first before it is aggregated. What happens with information about each single event?

> It does not benefit the user in any way Really? The browser-maker learning what features people use vs. don't, or what features are fast vs. slow on actual user machines, doesn't benefit the user by getting them a better browser over time? I would like it if the statistics from Chrome in particular, were sent to Chromium-project servers rather than Google servers, though. Even if only Google's derivative of Chromiu…

To add on the user benefit, I am a mobile engineer and we pay a lot of attention to things like what features people use and performances (smoothness).

Again, I don't feel like I am invading anybody's privacy when I look at what all my users are doing in order to help decide what to prioritize.

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