Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#361

Post by GekkePrutser » Sun, Sep 12, 2021, 5:38 AM UTC

mbg721 wrote: post #136

dralley wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

What did "marriage rights" actually change? I know taxes changed, and I assume there were some property implications beyond just sticking it to bigoted Christians, but that last part seemed to be the major feature.

There was also a case in Ireland where the biological mother in a gay couple died and her partner wasn't allowed to keep their child. It was very sad. Not sure if this applied to the US too though.

It was in the discussion around the referendum on gay marriage which passed.

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#362

Post by kaba0 » Sun, Sep 12, 2021, 5:43 AM UTC

GekkePrutser wrote: post #325

hypertele-Xii wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Until you can't, because Mozilla deems that only X% of users use that feature and maintaining its configurability consumes too much organizational resources. First the GUI to edit the GUI disappears, then the about:config option follows later. That's what's been steadily happening. Less and less customizability for power users, more and more streamlining for new users.

Yes the same now with the compact mode which is even more needed now than ever with the new UI. The compact mode now has the same density as the regular mode had before.

And the whole thing is now something like 3px higher.. definitely a reason to go back to google, and make the only remaining libre browser fighting for an independent web crumble.

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#363

Post by GekkePrutser » Sun, Sep 12, 2021, 5:43 AM UTC

mbg721 wrote: post #260

krapp wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sex has been unshackled from reproduction for far, far longer than marriage has even been a concept, and in many ancient cultures same sex relationships were perfectly normal[0]. The axis of "heterosexuality" and "homosexuality" itself is no older than the 20th century, and even the concept of monogamy is relatively new as far as Abrahamic religious tradition goes. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_same-se…

Non-conventional sex isn't new, but making sure marriage is defined in such a way to include it is new, or at least wasn't universal.

One thing that surprises me about the discussion of non-hetero marriage is how often it's about the sex.

Sure, sex is an integral part of marriage but it's not the most important one, by far. It's much more about love and sharing life IMO.

I don't understand why what happens in a private bedroom between consenting adults is such a problem.

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#364

Post by GekkePrutser » Sun, Sep 12, 2021, 5:49 AM UTC

kaba0 wrote: post #362

GekkePrutser wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes the same now with the compact mode which is even more needed now than ever with the new UI. The compact mode now has the same density as the regular mode had before.

And the whole thing is now something like 3px higher.. definitely a reason to go back to google, and make the only remaining libre browser fighting for an independent web crumble.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going back but I would hate it if they remove the compact mode. It would be just another drop in the bucket but not the final one for me.

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#365

Post by kaba0 » Sun, Sep 12, 2021, 5:49 AM UTC

pasc1878 wrote: post #164

pasc1878 wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The last version messed up macos dark mode completely. It ignores much css including including add-ons like tree style tabs which is the main reason I use firefox. So I am stuck on v90 The bug says fixed but the nightlies show it hasn't

The last version messed up macos dark mode completely. It ignores much css including including add-ons like tree style tabs which is the main reason I use firefox. So I am stuck on v90 The bug says fixed but the nightlies show it hasn't Oh and I had to switch to Safari to edit this comment.

Well, it seems safari was not able to edit your comment…

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#366

Post by GekkePrutser » Sun, Sep 12, 2021, 5:56 AM UTC

AwaAwa wrote: post #316

GekkePrutser wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Brave is a decent browser but I won't use anything from Brendan Eich. I also don't really agree with their BAT token stuff. I just want adtech to die at this stage, not to find an alternative model. Direct payments to sites I do support however and I'm a member of several. I guess both opinions aren't popular :) But that's my reasons to use Firefox despite not being fully happy with it.

Seems hyperbolic to state, when I'm sure you're using javascript umpteen times daily. Very arguable that Eich's single handedly more responsible for javascript than Brave, engineering wise. I'm not a crypto fan, or of adtech, but BAT is atleast a functional solution to directly supporting sites.

Fair enough. The whole gay marriage thing just really annoyed me. I have some close friends who are struggling with such prejudice every day. And that's in a country where marriage isn't a problem for them.

It's one thing for an employee to have private views but another for a CEO to actively try and influence the law. Especially for something that's in my opinion totally a private matter between people. I don't want to support the brand because of that.

But I'm not doubting his skills as an engineer. It's more about the brand and its values. For a public figure like a CEO these things are hard to separate, I understand that. But we live in a world where a brand is more than just a name on a sticker. If I'm using it I'm also supporting the associated values.

But I agree the way I said it was hyperbolic.

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#367

Post by stjohnswarts » Sun, Sep 12, 2021, 6:42 AM UTC

hakfoo wrote: post #328

temphnaccount wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say other way around is true. HN crowd won't like this but it's very hard to continuously update a product for the core userbase that Firefox has. (small sample size but I maintain a small privacy focused app and from my experience, most of the reviews I get are how it's missing features which competitors have or how it's unusable because it can't handle stuff without jeopardizing privacy focused nature of the ap…

Firefox's user base is made up of customization enthusiasts, privacy advocates, and people who remember when "web standards" meant "doesn't work in IE6." If they pivot towards "mainstream appeal", it usually comes to the expense of that user community. Their alternative is to be the best Firefox they can possibly be, and wait for users to join their audience organically. It feels like Vivaldi has done a better job of…

I don't get it. I surf on the couch while my wife binges netflix shows laptop has no issue with vivaldi and surfing with tons of tabs open. Am I doing something wrong? This laptop was made in 2014 and the only upgrade was an SSD drive and an extra 8 gigs of ram for a total of 12

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#368

Post by stjohnswarts » Sun, Sep 12, 2021, 6:49 AM UTC

adtac wrote: post #93

caoilte wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Me too. Bit I also haven't updated it in over a year in order to avoid the awful rewrite.

not updating browsers is a huge security risk

Exactly, unless you turn off javascript and limit yourself to a very limited subset of sites you are a sitting duck. I would have thought HN general consensus would be that this is a very very bad idea.

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#369

Post by stjohnswarts » Sun, Sep 12, 2021, 6:50 AM UTC

wellthisishn wrote: post #170

libeclipse wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new updated Firefox on Android is better than the old one

Totally agree. It's not intrusive, gives lots of options organized well, it's fast... great browser. I assume it's still safer than Chrome as well, seems like the best option for now

I'm not sure why anyone would use chrome on android when brave, vivaldi, firefox are all better.

Re: Why Firefox has been in decline for 12 years

#370

Post by stjohnswarts » Sun, Sep 12, 2021, 6:51 AM UTC

junon wrote: post #37

znpy wrote: 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).

You can turn all that stuff off. I'll never understand people complaining about free stuff that is useful to them, especially when it is minor stuff.