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Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

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Re: Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

#21

Post by SquareWheel »

y0ghur7_xxx wrote: post #15
Nullabillity wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, running experiments on unknowning and unconsenting users is unethical, especially when the metrics being optimized for usually aren't in the users' best interests. The widespread acceptance for this behaviour could definitely be classified as brain damage.

> especially when the metrics being optimized for usually aren't in the users' best interests I don't think so. Mozilla is not google, and apart from the mr. Robot error, that they apologized for, I am sure Mozilla is using it for making the browser better, and not to use you for targeted ads like the other browser maker does.

When has Chrome used A/B testing for ad targeting in the past? Can you link to an example?

Re: Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

#23

Post by dang »

rgrieselhuber wrote: post #14
enriquto wrote: post #3

A good outcome of this certificate fiasco is that many firefox users learned about the "studies" and "Normandy" brain-damage and promptly disabled them.

The Mozilla / Firefox teams must have a bunch of people monitoring HN threads. I always notice very aggressive downvoting whenever FF is criticized.

Please don't insinuate astroturfing etc.; this is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.

HN has strong open-source and free-software constituencies. Many of those people feel strongly about Mozilla and Firefox. There's no need to assume bad faith (also in the site guidelines!)

If you see unfairly downvoted comments, give them a corrective upvote. That corrects most cases. If the problem persists, emailing us at hn@ycombinator.com so we can take a look, and possibly intervene, would be a helpful thing to do.

Re: Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

#24

Post by SquareWheel »

rgrieselhuber wrote: post #14
enriquto wrote: post #3

A good outcome of this certificate fiasco is that many firefox users learned about the "studies" and "Normandy" brain-damage and promptly disabled them.

The Mozilla / Firefox teams must have a bunch of people monitoring HN threads. I always notice very aggressive downvoting whenever FF is criticized.

Calling people shills without proof is not an honest argument. Sometimes people just have different views. I downvote those comments because they're unsubstantiated and needlessly pessimistic. Mozilla is still one of the better organizations out there.

Re: Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

#25

Post by loopl »

ehsankia wrote: post #12
Nullabillity wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, running experiments on unknowning and unconsenting users is unethical, especially when the metrics being optimized for usually aren't in the users' best interests. The widespread acceptance for this behaviour could definitely be classified as brain damage.

> the metrics being optimized for usually aren't in the users' best interests Do you have any source for that? If you truly believe that Firefox is optimizing metrics that aren't in the users' best interest in general, why are you even using said software in the first place?

What other browser can you use if you are interested in some sort of privacy?

Is Chrome compiled from source safe from tracking?

Re: Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

#26

Post by snazz »

theferalrobot wrote: post #17

I tried Firefox recently because I want to ditch my Chrome habit and I love Mozilla but it had serious performance issues on all of my macs (fans would spin at max after 5 min, a long standing and known issue I guess) along with some real oddities on my android. Between bad performance and these many recent missteps I ended up ditching it for just another chromium based browser out there. Though my experience is some…

If you’re on a Mac, you have Safari installed as well which is better than Chrome (or most Chromium flavors) on the privacy and security front, not to mention battery life and performance.

However, I’m sure Mozilla would like a bug report, because I’ve never seen performance issues with Firefox on a Mac. Edit: I should note that the couple of MacBook Airs I had it installed on were pre-Retina so that might explain why I hadn’t seen this particular issue.

Re: Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

#27

Post by tomc1985 »

theferalrobot wrote: post #17

I tried Firefox recently because I want to ditch my Chrome habit and I love Mozilla but it had serious performance issues on all of my macs (fans would spin at max after 5 min, a long standing and known issue I guess) along with some real oddities on my android. Between bad performance and these many recent missteps I ended up ditching it for just another chromium based browser out there. Though my experience is some…

Firefox on mac used to be like that, but recent versions (last year or two) haven't had that issue

You're probably being downvoted for negging others' beloved browser

Re: Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

#28

Post by zamalek »

Vinnl wrote: post #18
benatkin wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. The testing should be done on users that opt in (likely less than 0.1% but that should be OK if it's done properly) and it should be rolled out by releasing an update to everyone. These so-called "best practices" often aren't.

By relying on opt-in you won't test whether a feature actually works for the average user, so if you don't test it, you might roll something useless/confusing/actively harmful out to all of them instead of just a few.

Exactly. The recent Windows 10 update fiascos demonstrate this perfectly: they are opt-in (Insider program) and there were too few users experiencing the bugs to overcome the noise of those who weren't. You need a truly random sample.

Re: Firefox 66.0.4 is out, fixes disabled add-ons

#30

Post by theferalrobot »

snazz wrote: post #26
theferalrobot wrote: post #17

I tried Firefox recently because I want to ditch my Chrome habit and I love Mozilla but it had serious performance issues on all of my macs (fans would spin at max after 5 min, a long standing and known issue I guess) along with some real oddities on my android. Between bad performance and these many recent missteps I ended up ditching it for just another chromium based browser out there. Though my experience is some…

If you’re on a Mac, you have Safari installed as well which is better than Chrome (or most Chromium flavors) on the privacy and security front, not to mention battery life and performance. However, I’m sure Mozilla would like a bug report, because I’ve never seen performance issues with Firefox on a Mac. Edit: I should note that the couple of MacBook Airs I had it installed on were pre-Retina so that might explain wh…

It is a long standing issue with Firefox. I reported it and was pointed here to watch for updates: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1404042
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