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Firefox 57 as the first release where only WebExtensions will be supported

blog.mozilla.org

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Re: Firefox 57 as the first release where only WebExtensions will be supported

#41

Post by eveningcoffee »

Spivak wrote: post #31
sveme wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Does Chromium support Tree Style Tabs despite using WebExtensions? If that's the case, why would that not be possible for Firefox? Or would you switch to make a statement?

It wouldn't really be to make a statement. Chromium is a better browser but because of the powerful add-ons Firefox's overall experience is better. Take that away and there's no real reason to stay with Firefox unless you like their license and Mozilla as a company.

There is still one major reason to stay with Firefox - it is not Chrome.

Re: Firefox 57 as the first release where only WebExtensions will be supported

#42

Post by icebraining »

bastawhiz wrote: post #23
dagenleg wrote: post #8

I am honestly starting to believe that Mozilla is trying to run Firefox into the ground. I am not sure if it's just bad decision making or if the decision makers themselves had been bought off by competition, but it sure does feel like this. Why do we need one more Chrome like browser out there? I specifically use Firefox because it's a) not chrome, b) has better addons. If you hamstring the addons and make everythin…

> has better addons The add-ons might be better, but XUL-based Firefox add-ons are not better. They essentially give full control of your computer to the developer of the add-on. There's no permission model. The "APIs" are mostly the internals of Firefox itself, and when Firefox updates, lots of add-ons break. Most add-ons can be ported to webextensions. The ones that can't probably shouldn't have ever been add-ons t…

Lots of other browsers used to do the same thing Firefox does, and chose to use a webextension-like model instead.

Really? Name three.

Your arguments may be true, yet they fail to answer the question: "If you hamstring the addons and make everything chrome/chromium like, what's the reasons to use FF then?" If Chrome made all the right decisions, we might as well kill off the Firefox project.

Re: Firefox 57 as the first release where only WebExtensions will be supported

#43

Post by falcolas »

bastawhiz wrote: post #23
dagenleg wrote: post #8

I am honestly starting to believe that Mozilla is trying to run Firefox into the ground. I am not sure if it's just bad decision making or if the decision makers themselves had been bought off by competition, but it sure does feel like this. Why do we need one more Chrome like browser out there? I specifically use Firefox because it's a) not chrome, b) has better addons. If you hamstring the addons and make everythin…

> has better addons The add-ons might be better, but XUL-based Firefox add-ons are not better. They essentially give full control of your computer to the developer of the add-on. There's no permission model. The "APIs" are mostly the internals of Firefox itself, and when Firefox updates, lots of add-ons break. Most add-ons can be ported to webextensions. The ones that can't probably shouldn't have ever been add-ons t…

> Firefox will be better off for only supporting webextensions.

Sounds like Firefox developers will be better off. Everyone else will suffer.

I'm a developer, I understand how much the job sucks sometimes (that's why it's a job). But if you want a product to succeed, can't afford to put the comfort of your developers over that of the end user.

Re: Firefox 57 as the first release where only WebExtensions will be supported

#44

Post by darkengine »

sveme wrote: post #21
darkengine wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Firefox 56 is the last release to support Tree Style Tabs, it will be the last release of Firefox before I begrudgingly switch to Chromium.

Why? Does Chromium support Tree Style Tabs despite using WebExtensions? If that's the case, why would that not be possible for Firefox? Or would you switch to make a statement?

Because Chromium runs far better in my experience, especially on Linux, and especially where graphics and WebGL are concerned. If all I can use are WebExtensions, I may as well use Chromium for the speed.

Re: Firefox 57 as the first release where only WebExtensions will be supported

#45

Post by hoschicz »

darklajid wrote: post #16
Tree1993 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a way we can continue use these classic addon?

You can use the LTS (Extended Support Release? Not sure about the Mozilla terminology) version. For a while..

It's called Firefox ESR

Re: Firefox 57 as the first release where only WebExtensions will be supported

#46

Post by smnscu »

pvg wrote: post #35
exceptione wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are right. I did and do not say every chrome user is stupid, there might be legitimate use-cases. But the vast amount of people just install chrome or get it side-loaded with some freeware and don't even think about their options and the impact of their choice. Now that is less than smart.

It's the most secure browser available. That's a not a 'might be legitimate' use case.

Citation needed. I found this [0] but maybe you have a better source. This was interesting though:

> In the most recent Pwn2Own hacking competition, Chrome came out ahead of every other browser with only one exploit being successfully executed.

0: https://tiptopsecurity.com/what-is-the-most-secure-web-brows...

Re: Firefox 57 as the first release where only WebExtensions will be supported

#47

Post by oblio »

Spivak wrote: post #31
sveme wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Does Chromium support Tree Style Tabs despite using WebExtensions? If that's the case, why would that not be possible for Firefox? Or would you switch to make a statement?

It wouldn't really be to make a statement. Chromium is a better browser but because of the powerful add-ons Firefox's overall experience is better. Take that away and there's no real reason to stay with Firefox unless you like their license and Mozilla as a company.

The question is, why is Chromium the better browser?

Firefox 57 will have sandboxing and per-tab processes (most likely) plus a better extension system than Chrome's.

Firefox 57 should be at least equivalent to Chromium.

Re: Firefox 57 as the first release where only WebExtensions will be supported

#48

Post by gkya »

moron4hire wrote: post #6
cosarara97 wrote: post #2

IMO Firefox has just 2 things to beat Chrome: better add-ons (like treestyle tabs) and politics (made by Mozilla instead of an ads company). They are burning the first one.

Mozilla may not be an ads company, but they make the vast majority of their money from giving space to ads companies.

Where's that space?

Re: Firefox 57 as the first release where only WebExtensions will be supported

#49

Post by sirn »

Tree1993 wrote: post #26
sychophant wrote: post #22

I use Vimperator. I have not upgraded Firefox since 43.0.4 in order to continue to use Vimperator. I will not upgrade Firefox past the point where it does not support Vimperator.

VimFX works very well in FF51.

It's a very different experience.

Some of us who use Vimperator use it not only because of the key binding, but also for the command-line, ability to modify the UI (e.g. :set gui=none), ability to put .vimperatorrc in .dotfiles and use it across multiple systems, and such. As far as I know, VimFX still not capable of all these functionalities (some due to difference in mission, e.g. not modifying the UI.)

That said, WebExtensions at its current state still couldn't support all of VimFX's current feature either.[1]

[1]: https://github.com/akhodakivskiy/VimFx/issues/860

Re: Firefox 57 as the first release where only WebExtensions will be supported

#50

Post by icebraining »

oblio wrote: post #47
Spivak wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wouldn't really be to make a statement. Chromium is a better browser but because of the powerful add-ons Firefox's overall experience is better. Take that away and there's no real reason to stay with Firefox unless you like their license and Mozilla as a company.

The question is, why is Chromium the better browser? Firefox 57 will have sandboxing and per-tab processes (most likely) plus a better extension system than Chrome's. Firefox 57 should be at least equivalent to Chromium.

How will the extension system of FF 57 be better than Chrome's?
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