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Choose Firefox Now, Or Later You Won't Get A Choice

robert.ocallahan.org

281–290 of 316 posts

Re: Choose Firefox Now, Or Later You Won't Get A Choice

#281
post #48

I've gone back to FF after using Chrome literally form the day it landed. I changed because of vimperator + the ability to theme the header slimmer (i'm on laptop 24/7). But frankly it kind of sucks a bit and I have to jump over to Chrome a lot because almost no videos will play in FF.

Chrome has Vimium, but I haven't used either enough to compare them. On laptop, I sometimes ctrl+shift+b to hide the Chrome toolbar.

I used Vimium for a couple of weeks, 1 minute of using Vimperator made me switch to the whole browser.

Re: Choose Firefox Now, Or Later You Won't Get A Choice

#283
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I modified an existing theme [0] and now it looks like this http://imgur.com/kkXpFHX still not pretty but it stays out of the way so I don't really care at the moment. [0] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/littlefox-for...

I dont mean to insult you, but this looks just ugly, and the UI seems to be way too small to be used with comfort. I wonder if there's really no way to stop Firefox from wasting that space above the tabs, just like Chrome does it...

Yeah that's what I said "not pretty". But honestly it is so small I don't even look at it anymore.

And the UI to be used? I haven't clicked a UI element in any browser manually for years (at least that what it feels like).

Re: Choose Firefox Now, Or Later You Won't Get A Choice

#284
I've followed Mozilla efforts to slim down and perf up Firefox, and they did miraculous things considering the resources they have (in comparison to Chrome, IE, etc). Like many I still wish for process isolation (wip). But beside that, as a recovering nerd, I'd like to be able to hook into it like conkeror. 50% of my links are sent to printfriendly.com, many time I don't wanna use the basic ergonomics of the web and write js/jq snippets to change things. Sure one can always write a firefox extension but it feels like a burden to me. Emacs might have spoiled me for good.

Re: Choose Firefox Now, Or Later You Won't Get A Choice

#285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right, because on a comment thread about google's ever-increasing control over the web/etc, the following are irrelevant: * A court case about breaching US federal privacy laws * A court case about Google using it's relationship with device manufacturers to negatively impact a company with a competing service * An article about how Google tracks mobile users and the disclosure/notification about said tracking, with i…

Sarcasm does not further a debate. If you want to froth at the mouth and show your agenda, sure, but not actually having constructive discussions. Posting enormous gripe lists is not useful on any board, relevant or not, even minus the comically skewed narrative provided with them. In this case it wasn't even original but instead is a "create a puppet account and paste the complaint list again " tactic, which is just…

Edit: you have to take some of the blame for the sarcastic tone. It seems to be a result of the inability in this discussion to consider that discussion of Google's shitty aspects (there is much that has been good), on an article that is about these shitty things, could really be a thing. Enumerating badness might (?) be inelegant but it's a wholly valid thing to do in a discussion.

I started to realize that google had gone down the "let's be like Microsoft" path when, among other things, it flung itself head-first into the whole schema.org patent fiasco. It made me wonder if Google itself would have been successful if its rivals Yahoo & friends had tried to pull something similar back in the day.

Discussing the fact that Google's maneuverings are barely distinguishable from other giants in history is not "Frothing at the mouth". Especially forcing Android-using vendors to ship chrome - I challenge you to think of a more 1990s Microsoft scenario!

However, not that I have time or energy to care - it just seems like the natural lifee-cycle of successful companies.

Back in the 1990s I had the energy to care, and I enjoy working in/on/with Linux/BSD today but believe me when I say I just can't find the same energy to pick apart google (or Microsoft!) in the same way today.

And yet even I can see it's obvious that there is at the very least a case to say that Google's dominance could hurt the web. Hence the article. Hence this discussion.

"Frothing at the mouth", "binary view" indeed.

Re: Choose Firefox Now, Or Later You Won't Get A Choice

#286
post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I think the OP's title should really be "use something other than Chrome." The fear here is that Chrome (and Google) are approaching critical mass that would allow platform lock in. I personally think that Gmail is the greater threat. In looking at users signed up on a service of mine, I see almost all GMail . It's breathtaking. Pretty soon Google will have the ability to basically embrace-extend-extinguish…

I use Google Apps for Business because I no longer have to think about the bullshit around mail and spam, and that's not going to change until the alternatives are worth the time they require me to invest. I get the argument regarding Gmail, but if you want somebody to not use Gmail, you're gonna have to be better than Gmail. Nobody is. (Outlook.com is okay, but their web client is garbage and email is one of fairly…

I don't disagree. GMail conquered the world by investing a lot in overcoming the spam problem.

Re: Choose Firefox Now, Or Later You Won't Get A Choice

#287
post #39

If the premise here is that Google is the evil empire, why is Google still on the Home Page when running Firefox?? Apparently large sums of money can have an effect on ethics. Obviously the underlying goal here is a plea for more FF marketshare, but it's a tad hypocritical if the message is to not use services from a company you're promoting yourself. That's do as I say, not as I do type stuff.

It's not hypocritical. Google pays Mozilla to be the default search engine, and this is the main source of Mozilla's money. If you don't want them to be so dependent on Google, then donate - every dollar you donate to Mozilla brings them closer to being independent from Google: https://sendto.mozilla.org/page/contribute/Give-Now

Sure it is hypocritical. Mozilla could just sell to someone else.

Re: Choose Firefox Now, Or Later You Won't Get A Choice

#288

If your only argument is ideology, you are in serious trouble. I know from experience. Firefox changed the game back in the early 2000s not only because it fought for the open web, but because it was way better than the competition. Granted, beating a very actively developed product is much harder than a stagnant one. Google's got a lot of smart people working on it. I think Mozilla is going to have radicalize and go…

If eye candy is more of a feature to you than privacy then what does that say? Would you give up all privacy and choice for something flashy?

If user interface is eye candy to you then what does that say?

Re: Choose Firefox Now, Or Later You Won't Get A Choice

#289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If eye candy is more of a feature to you than privacy then what does that say? Would you give up all privacy and choice for something flashy?

If user interface is eye candy to you then what does that say?

Do you really feel like the Firefox UI is subpar?

Re: Choose Firefox Now, Or Later You Won't Get A Choice

#290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really easy with an extension like [Tree Style Tab]( https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-ta... ), or by using Tab Groups.

Now why would I need to use this tree style tab versus just setting bookmarks? Plus, show me how productive you are with hundreds of tabs EVEN with the tree style tab versus say just using bookmarks? With bookmarks I can save it, export it, move to another computer. But lets go back, how productive can one be with hundreds of tabs open even with a tree style versus bookmarks?

How exactly do I quantify my productivity? I like the workflow better. It works better for me, and apparently it works better for the parent poster. What's it to you?
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