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Firefox 29 beta arrives with easy Sync tool....

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Re: Firefox 29 beta arrives with easy Sync tool....

#21
post #11

So now I need to give them my email address plus remember yet another password for sync? Do not want. I always thought the old model with the sync keys was pretty sweet. Is the synced data end-to-end encrypted? It better be!

You can run your own Firefox sync server, but it's a pain to implement.

http://docs.services.mozilla.com/howtos/run-sync.html

Once it's up and running, though, it's seamless.

Edit: Hmm. Looks like they're happy to break this:

" Some unknown proportion of the user base uses their own Sync servers ... [Asa] I don't think we should worry too much about this group. If we can identify them and message them that'd be sufficient for my concerns."

https://services.etherpad.mozilla.org/sync-migration

Well, thanks.

Here's a code-dump of the new Firefox Account server. Not sure yet if I can implement this:

https://github.com/mozilla/fxa-auth-server

Re: Firefox 29 beta arrives with easy Sync tool....

#22

In this new version, Mozilla presents a major user interface overhaul Australis that makes it easy to customize your browser. The amount of doublespeak Mozilla has been putting out recently is astounding. Read the comments here for example (I don't know if they've changed anything since then, but I doubt it): https://blog.mozilla.org/ux/2013/11/australis-is-landing-in-... All they appear to be doing is chasing Chrome…

Well, yes and no. They seem to think it's the winning design, or their user studies indicate it (I wouldn't doubt there is benefits to tabs on top).

Also their not Chrome design, is the fact they are also pursuing tablet users with huge icons.

Re: Firefox 29 beta arrives with easy Sync tool....

#23
post #6
post #2

So.. can I disable australis somehow?

Have you at least tried it or are you simply change averse? I have done the move a few weeks back, and I don't regret my decision. The toolbar and my add-ons located there still work very well, also the new menu gives a quick access to useful features.

As nightly-build user I've worked with it a few weeks. I got used to everything - except the tab's on top (more mouse-movement and they just don't make sense, I don't get why they removed that option). But now working with classic theme restorer, so as long as they don't break that plugin everything's fine.

Re: Firefox 29 beta arrives with easy Sync tool....

#24
post #17

In this new version, Mozilla presents a major user interface overhaul Australis that makes it easy to customize your browser. The amount of doublespeak Mozilla has been putting out recently is astounding. Read the comments here for example (I don't know if they've changed anything since then, but I doubt it): https://blog.mozilla.org/ux/2013/11/australis-is-landing-in-... All they appear to be doing is chasing Chrome…

I worry that desktop Firefox will go the way of the Android version or the neutered Firefox OS browser, where you cannot install the vital security add-on NoScript due to the incompatible add-on model that the mobile versions use. That used to work on Android, but no longer (and it seems the noscript dev is not a fan of the mobile platform). There are many more add-ons that only work on the desktop version. They shou…

While I agree, Australis only breaks visual add-ons like Vertical Tabs, and the like. Not sure where NoScript comment is coming from?

Re: Firefox 29 beta arrives with easy Sync tool....

#25
post #15

"In addition, Firefox Sync is also upgraded so that all current users will need to create new account" Seriously, NO! How to alienate your existing customers.

I'm not sure that part of the article is correct. I've been using my old sync account in Nightly builds (now up to version 31) and it's still working fine.

Edit: I just checked with a clean install, and there's a button that says "Using an older version of sync?" It brings you to this page https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-to-update-to-the-ne... which basically says "unlink all your devices and re-link them." So I guess adding new devices to your old account doesn't work.

Re: Firefox 29 beta arrives with easy Sync tool....

#26
post #7
post #2

So.. can I disable australis somehow?

There's an extension called Classic Theme Restorer that aims to do it, as well as customize australis.

The fact that such an extension exists, and that it may get broken again in later versions, says a lot about what Mozilla really think of customisation.

Re: Firefox 29 beta arrives with easy Sync tool....

#27
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's an extension called Classic Theme Restorer that aims to do it, as well as customize australis.

The fact that such an extension exists, and that it may get broken again in later versions, says a lot about what Mozilla really think of customisation.

> says a lot about what Mozilla really think of customisation.

Oh? And what is that? "Customization is great and you should have the option to do so"? Try having a "classic theme restorer" with Chromium.

> it may get broken again in later versions

Future changes may cause incompatibilities in any project. That is why such changes are released in major new versions so that add-on developers have plenty of time to make adjustments and fixes.

Re: Firefox 29 beta arrives with easy Sync tool....

#28
post #24
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worry that desktop Firefox will go the way of the Android version or the neutered Firefox OS browser, where you cannot install the vital security add-on NoScript due to the incompatible add-on model that the mobile versions use. That used to work on Android, but no longer (and it seems the noscript dev is not a fan of the mobile platform). There are many more add-ons that only work on the desktop version. They shou…

While I agree, Australis only breaks visual add-ons like Vertical Tabs, and the like. Not sure where NoScript comment is coming from?

For now Australis only breaks visual add-ons, but I can see a drive to align, i.e. remove features from, the desktop version so it is more like the mobile versions. The thinking being - Australis is visually more like the Android version of Firefox, why not make its add-on model more like the Android add-on model? i.e. Neutered.

The NoScript comment is because that is the "killer app" for Firefox for me, and on mobile Firefox it is not available. There's the amusingly titled "NSA" addition - http://noscript.net/nsa/ - but as you can see from that page it is pretty much dead. A forum post from November 2013 (1) indicates that the author is aware of the problem, but the diverging code bases I guess make it difficult to maintain.

1: http://forums.informaction.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=17687&si...

Re: Firefox 29 beta arrives with easy Sync tool....

#29

I've been patiently waiting for Firefox to fix their ugly UI, I look forward to finally ditching Chrome and returning to a browser made by a company whose primary concern isn't accumulating data on its users.

If it's only the UI holding you back you could have found an extension/theme long ago.

Re: Firefox 29 beta arrives with easy Sync tool....

#30
post #29

I've been patiently waiting for Firefox to fix their ugly UI, I look forward to finally ditching Chrome and returning to a browser made by a company whose primary concern isn't accumulating data on its users.

If it's only the UI holding you back you could have found an extension/theme long ago.

If it's only the UI holding you back then you having been following the NSA spying / Google cooperation stories lately.
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