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Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

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Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#111
post #60

I have an alternative set of explanations regarding why Firefox is seeing a continuous decline for the last 12 years. 1. Mozilla is competing against Google. Numbers are not public but I would be surprised if Google didn't have 10x more people working on Chrome vs. the number of people working on Firefox. 2. Mozilla is competing against Google. Numbers are again not public but I remember reading estimates that the eq…

Um. A "hapless victim" of the US culture wars? Mozilla quite deliberately committed suicide - they bought a fucking fireworks show to announce to the world that if you had views as conservative or more conservative that the average American, you had a permanent glass ceiling for your employment at Mozilla. Now they struggle to hire developers over the age of 25 - who would have guessed? Describing the prosecutors of…

More importantly when confronted with a serious piece of leadership challenge the guy screwed up badly. He needed to navigate that a lot better and didn’t.

That was worth his resignation.

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#112
post #60

I have an alternative set of explanations regarding why Firefox is seeing a continuous decline for the last 12 years. 1. Mozilla is competing against Google. Numbers are not public but I would be surprised if Google didn't have 10x more people working on Chrome vs. the number of people working on Firefox. 2. Mozilla is competing against Google. Numbers are again not public but I remember reading estimates that the eq…

I switched because FF was painfully slow, and chrome was blazing fast when it came out in comparison. Not only that, but the dev tools (specifically for JS) were far better than anything else out there.

Fast forward 12 years, and little has changed. I dont keep 1000 tabs open, so chrome has never felt slow. I tried installing the developer edition of FF about 6 years ago on macOS and it refused to open.

Why bother changing?

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#113

I use both Chrome (for work) and Firefox (personal) on Windows. Beyond a few specifics, I often can't remember which I am using. There might be many differences under the hood, but in a regular usage Firefox is really damn good. Even on Google's properties. I also use Firefox exclusively on mobile, and same. At the end of the day, they are two very mature, slightly different executions of the same concept. I get the…

In desktop, there is barely any difference now (Chrome's save as pdf feature is more accurate with tables). In mobile however, Chrome seems noticeably faster.

Counter point: install ublock origin on firefox mobile (which you cannot do on chrome) and the web is very noticeably faster on firefox.

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#114
post #60

I have an alternative set of explanations regarding why Firefox is seeing a continuous decline for the last 12 years. 1. Mozilla is competing against Google. Numbers are not public but I would be surprised if Google didn't have 10x more people working on Chrome vs. the number of people working on Firefox. 2. Mozilla is competing against Google. Numbers are again not public but I remember reading estimates that the eq…

Um. A "hapless victim" of the US culture wars? Mozilla quite deliberately committed suicide - they bought a fucking fireworks show to announce to the world that if you had views as conservative or more conservative that the average American, you had a permanent glass ceiling for your employment at Mozilla. Now they struggle to hire developers over the age of 25 - who would have guessed? Describing the prosecutors of…

If I were an LGBT employee at Mozilla, I would be pretty pissed and demoralized that my "leader" was actively trying to remove my rights.

Because that's what Proposition 8 was, an attempt to constitutionally remove marriage rights from gay people after the California courts ruled that it was allowed.

I think I'd be pretty uncomfortable making money for a person who would turn around and it to take away my / my family's rights.

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#115
post #60

I have an alternative set of explanations regarding why Firefox is seeing a continuous decline for the last 12 years. 1. Mozilla is competing against Google. Numbers are not public but I would be surprised if Google didn't have 10x more people working on Chrome vs. the number of people working on Firefox. 2. Mozilla is competing against Google. Numbers are again not public but I remember reading estimates that the eq…

I switched because FF was painfully slow, and chrome was blazing fast when it came out in comparison. Not only that, but the dev tools (specifically for JS) were far better than anything else out there. Fast forward 12 years, and little has changed. I dont keep 1000 tabs open, so chrome has never felt slow. I tried installing the developer edition of FF about 6 years ago on macOS and it refused to open. Why bother ch…

Because since FF57 it feels faster than Chrome.

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#116
post #60

I have an alternative set of explanations regarding why Firefox is seeing a continuous decline for the last 12 years. 1. Mozilla is competing against Google. Numbers are not public but I would be surprised if Google didn't have 10x more people working on Chrome vs. the number of people working on Firefox. 2. Mozilla is competing against Google. Numbers are again not public but I remember reading estimates that the eq…

> Google owns countless properties besides Chrome, from Google Docs to Google Translate to Android, and leverages all of these (great products) to lead users towards Chrome

I always wonder why Google do this. Sure, they could always have more Chrome users, but at the same time they're going to have to support Firefox forever whatever happens, and Firefox is a nice hedge for Google against being accused of having a browser monopoly.

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, isn't this a bit like saying, "I left Windows for Ubuntu because of the invasive privacy concerns I had... But man Unity is terrible, I'm going back to Windows!" If privacy is the ultimate concern, I can suffer usability. I think the real issue is we've stopped advocating for privacy loudly and publicly. All the users know is convenience.

That's how everybody is here. Nobody takes a principled stand when it involves even the slightest sacrifice.

Sample size of 1, but I have been choosing mostly open source/free for years and I don't think I am alone.

That said, these days Linux is just more convenient than the alternatives for me personally. Same goes for Firefox (still).

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#118

> Then Google decided to make the tabs on top standard for its Chrome browser, which was designed for mobile devices not desktops. On a smartphone it may make sense, as there isn’t room for a full desktop style menu layout. On a desktop it is counterintuitive and breaks workflow with all other programs. Funnily enough, moving tabs to the top is actually one of the few UI changes I actually agree with and find more lo…

I agree. Having tabs on top also makes sense from a Fitts's law perspective. I change tabs much more often than I use the title bar, so making it easier to click the tabs is good UI.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitts%27s_law

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Um. A "hapless victim" of the US culture wars? Mozilla quite deliberately committed suicide - they bought a fucking fireworks show to announce to the world that if you had views as conservative or more conservative that the average American, you had a permanent glass ceiling for your employment at Mozilla. Now they struggle to hire developers over the age of 25 - who would have guessed? Describing the prosecutors of…

If I were an LGBT employee at Mozilla, I would be pretty pissed and demoralized that my "leader" was actively trying to remove my rights. Because that's what Proposition 8 was, an attempt to constitutionally remove marriage rights from gay people after the California courts ruled that it was allowed. I think I'd be pretty uncomfortable making money for a person who would turn around and it to take away my / my family…

And the result is that Mozilla is a zombie company, filled with LGBT employees who would rather work for a company that is useless than one that has a leader who opposes gay marriage. That's fine for the U25s, but as people get older, they usually want to work for a company that is accomplishing something.

I understand the folks who wanted that and why they wanted that. But it still turned Mozilla and Firefox into walking corpses.

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#120
post #37
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox on Android used to just freeze for me. I'm happily on brave mobile, which does block ads.

... and replaces them with more ads directly in the user interface (e.g. the new tab screen).

Firefox just started doing that on desktop too :(
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