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Hang on to Your Firefox

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Re: Hang on to Your Firefox

#501

Post by PennRobotics »

kxrm wrote: post #500
PennRobotics wrote: post #427

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll reinstall now for a fresh opinion vs Kiwi (my current least hated mobile browser; Chrome with Extensions minus tab groups or AI junk) Prefaced: I respect Mozilla's mission. All of these criticisms ARE overly harsh. At the same time, app UI should be as invisible as possible to the user, and Mozilla's apps are... "loud" My last installs of Firefox Klar and Developer a year or two ago had the APKs at over 200 MB,…

Thank you for taking the time to write all this out. I've never noticed these issues. I also agree, that these are fair criticisms that Mozilla should address. Also, to be fair to you, I rarely use my phone as a dedicated browsing device so I am probably least representative of someone who relies on their phone as a primary browsing tool. Not implying that you do btw, I just thought I would color my experience with F…

No worries. I'm glad I went down the mobile browser rabbit hole again. I tried half a dozen browser this afternoon and then found Omni Browser (another Gecko-based one) and might stick with it. If that still disappoints, I'm cautiously optimistic for Ladybird.

Re: Hang on to Your Firefox

#502

Post by exsol »

nicoburns wrote: post #494
exsol wrote: post #327

Earlier quoted context omitted.

nice to see someone else fighting with the same suite. i run css part of WPT on pdf engine (paged output, no js) and hit most of the same problems. https://reflowpdf.com/conformance

FYI I was able to vibe code "enough JavaScript to run the css part of WPT" in about a week. Might not work so well if you don't have a DOM or incremental rendering though, but could be worth looking into.

thanks, i was already looking at this. Most of my skipped tests are reftests with script tag inside, and big part of that script just builds the dom. Thats doable without a real js runtime.

Re: Hang on to Your Firefox

#503

Post by cubefox »

cubefox wrote: post #416
theamk wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox's button is flaky - it seems to disappear depending on the page. For example it appears on HN comment page, but disappears on HN's top-level page. There is clearly some sort of heuristic which maybe tries to determine if there is "main content", but it fails on many blog-like pages, like current #5 [0]. It seems that any time I find a website with a horrible design and start looking for that "reader" button,…

We should find a clear example of a webpage with an article-like content where the reader is unavailable and file a bug.

Found one: Blog of Scott Aaronson. E.g. this post https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=10046

Also: Substack posts don't seem to show the reader symbol immediately, often only after switching tabs or a page refresh, e.g. posts linked here: https://dynomight.substack.com/

Re: Hang on to Your Firefox

#504

Post by crusty »

cute_boi wrote: post #322
xgulfie wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a fun example https://archive.is/ZtQpj Another funny moment from this guy https://github.com/SerenityOS/serenity/pull/6814#issuecommen...

what is wrong about it? I have issue with diversity that it allows someone to game the whole system. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion looks very good on paper, but in real world implementation it fails abysmally. I can tell because some of my friend who don't know anything got into companies by the same diversity and highly talented friend were rejected.

Meritocracy looks good on paper but the real world implementation fails abysmally. - see Pete Hegseth

If it's all imperfect failures, I personally prefer the failure that doesn't result in raising up white supremacists.

Re: Hang on to Your Firefox

#505

Post by 1970-01-01 »

TimTheTinker wrote: post #486
1970-01-01 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both can be true. Progressing without innovation only works when your product is Coca-Cola or Bic lighters. FireFox as a name or brand is nowhere near it's former v1.0-3.0 glory days.

Perhaps, but is there any modern browser name or brand that inspires the kind of fierce loyalty Firefox did 20 years ago? It was the alternative to IE6, the first rays of dawn bringing hope to to a desolate, war-torn funereal valley of culpable corporate complacence. Hatred for IE6 drove people to Firefox more than anything else - IE was horrible . Firefox users crowdfunded a two-page ad in the New York Times, mostly…

I think software loyalty is stuck at an all time low. Even the OS wars are over. People are stuck with subscription models. Almost everything has a cloud-based or SaaS service that works on everything. Nobody cares enough to fight about what browser they are using unless it is to fiddle around with adblockers.

Re: Hang on to Your Firefox

#506

Post by cosmic_cheese »

yencabulator wrote: post #499
cosmic_cheese wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm around middle age and keep tons of tabs open simply because I have a number of projects/tasks or soon-to-be projects/tasks going at any given point and managing associated websites is easier with tabs than it is with bookmarks. In other words, bookmark management UI/UX is inadequate and tab hoarding is the band-aid. There's also a higher chance that things will slip through the cracks and be forgotten if I bookma…

My hot take: there are two kinds of bookmarks. 1. shortcuts to get to common sites and 2. stuff i need to get back to. And it's a UX mistake to keep #2 separate from open tabs; they are the same thing.

Broadly I agree. Unfortunately the major browser devs haven't moved bookmark UX forward since the late 90s.

Re: Hang on to Your Firefox

#507

Post by culi »

DrewADesign wrote: post #479
culi wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "I use arch btw" of browsers. Jk but tbh I think group them in with Firefox

Maybe librewolf, but Waterfox is a drop-in replacement. Same extension “store”, gets updates quickly, install on every OS I’ve tried (which is usually windows unfortunately) is equally as smooth as Firefox, compatible profiles, etc, etc, etc. You literally just go to a different website to get the installer. It’s harder to install FF developer edition.

They both use Gecko under the hood and can install any Firefox Add-on. If you want something truly different, try a Goanna-based browser like Pale Moon or Basilisk

Tired: Firefox

Wired: Floorp, Midori, Mullvad Browser, SeaMonkey, Waterfox, Zen, GNU Icecat

Inspired: Basilisk, Pale Moon

Re: Hang on to Your Firefox

#508

Post by tim333 »

Mashimo wrote: post #17
hx8 wrote: post #6

I am under the impression that Firefox is the only web browser which has access to quality ad blocker. Am I incorrect in this? How is this not enough of a selling point for everyone to switch to it?

uBlock lite is enough for me. I switched from normal to lite and did not notice a difference.

I was going to say the same - I haven't noticed any deterioration switching to lite.

The user interface is a bit different which took getting used to but I think I now prefer the one in lite.

Re: Hang on to Your Firefox

#509

Post by theamk »

cubefox wrote: post #416
theamk wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox's button is flaky - it seems to disappear depending on the page. For example it appears on HN comment page, but disappears on HN's top-level page. There is clearly some sort of heuristic which maybe tries to determine if there is "main content", but it fails on many blog-like pages, like current #5 [0]. It seems that any time I find a website with a horrible design and start looking for that "reader" button,…

We should find a clear example of a webpage with an article-like content where the reader is unavailable and file a bug.

This is a very good example what I meant when I said "it's designed for a different person"!

For me, it's pretty clear that a much better idea is not to fix the broken concept, but do what the Chrome does, and show the button on every single page. Then users won't have to report the pages where button is missing, and Firefox devs won't have to keep updating that functionality all the time as the new types of pages appear.

Yes, this means that sometimes reader mode might miss some relevant text, but that's OK, reader mode does this occasionally already. And Firefox is supposed to be for power users, right?

Re: Hang on to Your Firefox

#510

Post by dd8601fn »

DrewADesign wrote: post #250
nik282000 wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not like Chrome, Chrome feels like it LOVES hanging out with me, looking over my shoulder, telling all it's friends about what I'm working on, what I buy, and how much money I make.

Sure, but Firefox doesn’t have to be Chrome to be unacceptable, and Chrome isn’t the only alternative. I reject the idea that Firefox can transgress as much as they want as long as Chrome has gotten worse. And fuck then for buying and killing fakespot.

> I reject the idea that Firefox can transgress as much as they want as long as Chrome has gotten worse.

Well, then the good news is nobody is saying that.

There’s room for people to disagree on what constitutes a serious “transgression”, though.

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