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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

#221

Post by kuschku »

ecnahc515 wrote: post #186
nine_k wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chromium isn't, either. But the extension flexibility was one of the major points for me. I'll have to pin Firefox to 56.x in my package manager.

That's a pretty terrible idea. Your web browser is probably the most important piece of software to keep up to date, besides the OS for security reasons.

For me, I have no alternative but to pin Firefox.

No browser on Linux can handle different DPI per screen. For Firefox, there's an addon implementing that today, but it won't work with WebExtensions.

So I have to use today's Firefox - or I can't use any browser.

Well, there's also the third option of using a magnifying glass to read websites.

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

#222

Post by msbarnett »

MiddleEndian wrote: post #216
msbarnett wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A more accurate metaphor would involve the sedan have modern safety features the lack of which make the truck increasingly risky to drive but which the truck is unable to adopt without shedding technical limitations imposed by the bed.

Except in this case it's like removing the bed so I can't hypothetically transport large quantities of nitroglycerin (addons with tracking) but they're preventing me from transporting anything of interest (tab mix plus). I'll just use the Firefox LTS until it stops working with the modern web. By then hopefully the issue will be solved (perhaps by me, as I'm a dev).

> Except in this case it's like removing the bed so I can't hypothetically transport large quantities of nitroglycerin (addons with tracking)

No? That's not what's motivating this at all.

The problem is the XUL/XPCOM API are fundamentally incomposable with completely sandboxed per-tab processes a la Chromium and other isolating security changes, because of assumptions they impose on Firefox internals.

If you turn on multiple processes in Firefox there's a bunch of complicated shims that half-keep some extensions working some of the time, but it's an uphill battle to support an API that never conceived of the idea. It needs to be shitcanned to move forward.

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

#224

Post by CaptSpify »

JohnTHaller wrote: post #95
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.

Only about 250,000 users use the tab modification extensions that people keep claiming is Firefox's only advantage out of 10s of millions of Firefox users. Addons that greatly alter Firefox's behavior are the main reason for crashes. And maintaining XUL is hampering Firefox future development.

What Percentage of users is that? I can't seem to find it, atm. If 250,000 = 1%, then sure, who cares. But if 250,000 = 50%, then that's a big deal

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

#225

Post by kuschku »

ripdog wrote: post #214
yellowapple wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Firefox will not have this limitation." Can you clarify/elaborate? Last I heard, UI modification by web extensions was still unconfirmed at best.

A sidebar API and tab modification API will be implemented specifically to allow TST to work. The addon will have to be rewritten completely on a very short timescale, though.

So, can I use that to add Tab Thumbnails to Firefox? Can I use it to port AutoHiDPI, which changes the scale of the UI depending on which screen the window is on?

Can I use this to replace the entire browser history system and omnibar autocomplete with a custom one?

Can I use this to replace the entire browser chrome?

Some of these changes I need (AutoHiDPI) to use a browser at all. Others I wish for. All of them I currently am using.

The alternative is me staying on an ancient browser, or forking Firefox and browsing with a horribly outdated and barely patched version. Or reading HN with a magnifying glass.

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

#226

Post by beerbaron23 »

darkengine wrote: post #205
beerbaron23 wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You really should use Firefox if you are a heavy WebGL user, Firefox is 3 times as fast as Chrome now on Unity3D, an it's the complete opposite, Chrome is more snappy with Java and Firefox with animations/Graphics. Here is my latest benchmark as solid proof: https://www.dropbox.com/s/58doo8csebp9l62/Bench.pdf?dl=0

In my experience on Linux, the difference is night and day, and not in Firefox's favor. Really basic demos struggle to get 30fps while Chromium handles them at the refresh rate of my display no problem. Firefox WebGL works much better on Windows for me; never tried it on OS X. It's probably a Linux-specific issue, but I rarely use Firefox on anything else.

Linux is another beast, on my Ubuntu box Firefox gives similar performance to OSX. But on my Debian stable box Chromium plays a lot better with it and the Firefox build feels like it has a gremlin in it haha.

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

#227

Post by beerbaron23 »

hackuser wrote: post #147
throwanem wrote: post #144

I get that there are a lot of people here who are really concerned that, without XUL and XPCOM, there will no longer be a reason to choose Firefox over Chrome. What I think they overlook is that, right now, it is impossible to recommend Firefox in any case, because it performs so poorly compared to Chrome that no one will take such a recommendation seriously. I've been using Firefox since back when it was still calle…

> it is impossible to recommend Firefox in any case, because it performs so poorly compared to Chrome ... I understand that this is your experience, but what is the basis for saying this is generally true? It's not my experience; theoretically, can't I also say my experience is generally true?

> it is impossible to recommend Firefox in any case, because it performs so poorly compared to Chrome ...

See that's some odd misinformation that's been spread around since Chrome first was released, it was the fastest browser at the time. Well since then, Chrome and Firefox have been going back and forth on which is the fastest. At this moment Firefox is a good margin faster than Chrome since their Electrolysis update.

So yah, I'm not sure why all this "Firefox is super slow" keeps getting passed around without anything to back it up. In fact for WebGL Firefox is over 3 times faster than Chrome, so if anything Chrome is actually the old slow dog.

Current benchmark for proof: https://www.dropbox.com/s/58doo8csebp9l62/Bench.pdf?dl=0

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

#228

Post by Grue3 »

Larrikin wrote: post #150
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.

I'm extremely worried about Rikai-chan/sama. Rikaichan allows translation of Japanese words simply by hovering your mouse over. It works much better than entering words into an online dictionary, since nearly every free JE-EJ dictionary uses the same source, and if a conjugation isn't translatable it will cut the word off giving the meaning and then letting you easily highlight the conjugation to figure out the meani…

May I recommend http://ichi.moe? There's no browser plugin, but it has way better word segmenting and conjugation algorithms than jisho.

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

#230

Post by Grue3 »

veeti wrote: post #32
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.

https://testpilot.firefox.com/experiments/tab-center/

It's not a web extension and will not work with Firefox 57.
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