Floorp – A customisable Firefox fork from Japan • Hacker News Board

Re: Floorp – A customisable Firefox fork from Japan

#41

Post by developer93 » Mon, Oct 02, 2023, 9:29 AM UTC

gunalx wrote: post #35

OmarAssadi wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's sort of strange to me how many Americans seem to share the same sentiment when my experience has often been the total opposite. China has some of the best factories, supply chains, and collaboration in the world. And while yes, of course, loads of intentionally cheap, low-quality goods are churned out regularly, many Chinese companies also make really solid products, often even the best products until you reach…

Not to bash on manufactured goods from china, but in a lot of product segments there really are a large difference in quality even from the upper end of middle priced products. I think this in large amount is origin agnostic though, and some of the reason china has gotten a bad reputation is that they are in a greater way willing to sacrifice quality to hit a lower price, and a lot of brands not paying the manufactur…

Annecdata, but a Chinese guy in my language class said that China was is trying to compete against quality rather than price, so maybe both are true at different points.

Re: Floorp – A customisable Firefox fork from Japan

#42

Post by MikusR » Mon, Oct 02, 2023, 9:29 AM UTC

toxinu wrote: post #18

qalmakka wrote: post #2

What's the point of stating that "it's made in Japan"? I just don't get it. Does it have improved IME or CJK support? It's not like Japan is famous for its quality software to be honest.

People buying and flexing with stuff that have "Designed in California" engraved on them and being offended with an Open Source software that just want to say is it developed in Japan. Stop over thinking and just appreciate people work. And meanwhile, Japan has been the biggest video games actor in the industry for the latest 50 years, so I guess there are some engineers over there.

By what metric? Top 3 games by units sold are american. By revenue they are in top 4 with games made in 80s and top spot is a Korean game.

Re: Floorp – A customisable Firefox fork from Japan

#43

Post by developer93 » Mon, Oct 02, 2023, 9:30 AM UTC

yuppiepuppie wrote: post #7

qalmakka wrote: post #2

What's the point of stating that "it's made in Japan"? I just don't get it. Does it have improved IME or CJK support? It's not like Japan is famous for its quality software to be honest.

Apple does this on every single one of its products, but not even from the nation its designed in, but the state!

Because they were accused of having uygar forced labour in their supply chains iirc

Re: Floorp – A customisable Firefox fork from Japan

#44

Post by papaver-somnamb » Mon, Oct 02, 2023, 9:31 AM UTC

Seeing some talk about "built in Japan": This is a huge psychological factor in the hearts and minds of Japanese people. AFAICT, pride is a main constituent. There is a strong desire for Japanese to have accomplishments to be proud of to the world, to stand out on a crowded world stage.

Another is this phrase particularly signals to other Japanese: Hey, choose this software, because it was made by our kind (pride), and its operation might mesh better with your cognitive patterns. oh, and the Japanese localization is bound to be 1st class (a small rarity).

One more: Japanese like to judge things after getting the thing into their hands and evaluating it (物で判断する), and word-of-mouth is mighty powerful in Japan. So "built in Japan" means it's pre-vetted by Japanese, and that is in turn a powerful seal of quality. Oh, and if there are some flaws, we can overlook them knowing that someone will eventually get round to dealing with them. It's a civil and respectful community-minded approach that mirrors Japanese culture in the large.

If you are so inclined, there is a whole multi-faceted Made in Japan movement.

Outside of the context of Japan or being of a Japanese mind, the value of this statement depends greatly on the context. For medicine, semiconductors, industrial equipment? Made in Japan is often a solid choice. For software? Japan is an advanced nation, plenty of highly-skilled knowledge workers, and has a very long history with software development; this software is probably competently done. On the other hand, it might mean the software is designed a little .. mysterious .. to non-Japanese eyes due to those aforementioned cognitive patterns but also a differing cultural context. For example using the color blue to signify "build successful" in Jenkins instead of green.

Re: Floorp – A customisable Firefox fork from Japan

#45

Post by tmpX7dMeXU » Mon, Oct 02, 2023, 9:32 AM UTC

toxinu wrote: post #18

qalmakka wrote: post #2

What's the point of stating that "it's made in Japan"? I just don't get it. Does it have improved IME or CJK support? It's not like Japan is famous for its quality software to be honest.

People buying and flexing with stuff that have "Designed in California" engraved on them and being offended with an Open Source software that just want to say is it developed in Japan. Stop over thinking and just appreciate people work. And meanwhile, Japan has been the biggest video games actor in the industry for the latest 50 years, so I guess there are some engineers over there.

Is there seriously anyone outside of Apple marketing that pays attention to “designed in California”? Much less anyone that “flexes” this attribute?

And would it not be just as weird to say “designed in California” in the title of this webpage?

I don’t think anyone is questioning Japan having residents that can…fork Firefox. GP was questioning Japan as a mark of software quality, in an attempt to determine the intent behind the messaging.

It’a valid question. It’s a valid critique, even. There really is no need to get so defensive.

Re: Floorp – A customisable Firefox fork from Japan

#46

Post by hackideiomat » Mon, Oct 02, 2023, 9:34 AM UTC

MikusR wrote: post #42

toxinu wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People buying and flexing with stuff that have "Designed in California" engraved on them and being offended with an Open Source software that just want to say is it developed in Japan. Stop over thinking and just appreciate people work. And meanwhile, Japan has been the biggest video games actor in the industry for the latest 50 years, so I guess there are some engineers over there.

By what metric? Top 3 games by units sold are american. By revenue they are in top 4 with games made in 80s and top spot is a Korean game.

Place 4 is from Japan tho

Re: Floorp – A customisable Firefox fork from Japan

#47

Post by tmpX7dMeXU » Mon, Oct 02, 2023, 9:37 AM UTC

userbinator wrote: post #10

thefounder wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe for someone who prefers to buy made in Japan over made in China. A made in Europe sticker would definitely appeal to me more than a made in China. At least on products that are not mass produced from established brands.

I definitely have a preference for made in America, but that really only applies to physical products since there are strong associations with reputation and quality; the "country of origin" of software is far less well-defined in general, especially in the case of OSS.

This is laughable. There are so many manufacturing skillsets that the US couldn’t dream to beat China in.

I am from neither country, from the perspective of residence, origin, or that of my family. I have absolutely no horse in the race. I just can’t believe that in 2023 Americans still believe this. Does anyone else remember Mac Pros being built in the US 10 years ago?

Re: Floorp – A customisable Firefox fork from Japan

#48

Post by chrismorgan » Mon, Oct 02, 2023, 9:38 AM UTC

kervantas wrote: post #12

qalmakka wrote: post #2

What's the point of stating that "it's made in Japan"? I just don't get it. Does it have improved IME or CJK support? It's not like Japan is famous for its quality software to be honest.

Same reason as why people append "in Rust" to titles. Marketing.

“In Rust” is a technical detail that influences various properties of the result (performance certainly; maintainability likely; immaturity possibly for areas like GUI). That’s quite different from “from Japan” which doesn’t say anything specific and measurable.

Re: Floorp – A customisable Firefox fork from Japan

#49

Post by tmpX7dMeXU » Mon, Oct 02, 2023, 9:38 AM UTC

rvnx wrote: post #23

circuit10 wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they’re asking why it’s so prominent (more in the title of this submission than the website itself) as if it’s the main feature of the browser

Japanese people are proud of their country. In some nations, like France or Bulgaria it’s taboo. But in the US or Japan it’s fine to be proud of where a product is coming from.

Stop making this about Japan specifically. I very much believe that this question would be asked were Japan exchanged with the US in the title.

Re: Floorp – A customisable Firefox fork from Japan

#50

Post by Moldoteck » Mon, Oct 02, 2023, 9:38 AM UTC

qalmakka wrote: post #2

What's the point of stating that "it's made in Japan"? I just don't get it. Does it have improved IME or CJK support? It's not like Japan is famous for its quality software to be honest.

just the pride? the same as some swiss businesses put 'made in Switzerland', or 'made in Germany', or how even some US politicians use Tesla, made in US as a point of pride?