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Why Is Google Blocking Inbox on Firefox?

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Re: Why Is Google Blocking Inbox on Firefox?

#51

Post by gcb0 »

johnward wrote: post #42
josteink wrote: post #2

> I'm not 100% sure on how the browsers implementation differs with CSP but there is a main difference in that there seems to be no CSP protected between Google domains in Google Chrome If this is true, does this mean that Google is short-cutting internet-security for their own applications in their own browser? Or am I reading this all wrong?

That's the way I read it too and I'm surprised no one else has mentioned this. Unless I'm missing something Google is allowing XSS for their own domains in chrome.

yes. and much more.

for example, even when using open source web kit or chromium they actively removed all options to disable referrer.

go on. try to find it on your current chrome build. or even on chromium thanks to their legacy.

then remember that referrer with its most exposing setting is required for Google to monetize both their organic and paid search.

Re: Why Is Google Blocking Inbox on Firefox?

#52

Post by silon3 »

eloisant wrote: post #49
custardcream wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. It's now Microsoft circa 2001.

Considering Microsoft is now Open Sourcing dotnet and releasing it for OSX and Linux, at what point did Google and Microsoft crossed each other?

When one can run Visual Studio on OSX/Linux...

Re: Why Is Google Blocking Inbox on Firefox?

#53

Post by jimktrains2 »

Oculus wrote: post #7
transfire wrote: post #4

Google's attempt to take over email does not sit with me well. We need better email. But email is too important to be proprietary. We need open standards here. And we need open source developers to kick it in high gear to create better email clients.

I don't think the issue is as much with the clients as it is with the spam filtering Google provides. The sheer volume of emails they handle allows them to have the best spam filtering in the world. Something, that will be very difficult to duplicate through OSS.

The issue is with sending mail. Running my own mail server just feels like a loosing proposition as inevitably it'll be blocked because it's not a well known one.

Re: Why Is Google Blocking Inbox on Firefox?

#54

Post by phpnode »

diggan wrote: post #15
pilif wrote: post #9

On the HN thread accompanying the release of Google Inbox, a (supposed) engineer working on Inbox was saying that the reason for the exclusion of Firefox was a performance issue with accessing sparse arrays with huge indexes. Link to the post: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8495498 Link to the bugzilla entry: https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1087963

Thanks a lot for that information! Will include it in the post when I get a chance. The performance is kind of bad in Firefox but I'm not sure it justifies blocking the entire browser because of that. For a comparison, Google Photos is slow as hell in Firefox, but you could still use it if you want to.

If they'd supported Firefox from the start everyone would be slating them for "crippling" Firefox, or they would have had a poor user experience that would turn a non trivial percentage of early adopters off the entire product. They cannot win here, it was a bug in FF, it is now fixed, presumably they'll stop blocking when the fix is more widely available.

Re: Why Is Google Blocking Inbox on Firefox?

#55

Post by custardcream »

eloisant wrote: post #49
custardcream wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. It's now Microsoft circa 2001.

Considering Microsoft is now Open Sourcing dotnet and releasing it for OSX and Linux, at what point did Google and Microsoft crossed each other?

Within the last couple of months literally.

I think to be honest that some of the stuff Microsoft have been working on behind the scenes is probably scaring the crap out of Apple and Google. There's not been a platform as holistic and complete as Microsoft's offerings so far and they are adding REAL value daily rather than just moving the chess pieces to great fanfare.

Re: Why Is Google Blocking Inbox on Firefox?

#56

Post by akavel »

mintone wrote: post #24

Google have produced a product which offers a great experience on one browser. They are happy with the performance of the application on that browser. They have no doubt tested it on other browsers and found the performance to be sub par. That application is clearly still in 'beta' mode (The app is still invitation only). I am sure that they will 'un-block' the browsers that Inbox doesn't perform well on once they've…

To me that too sounded like the "Occam's razor" explanation from the start. I totally admit Google shouldn't be looked at as saint, but in this particular case at least, I fully understand that performance is a feature (see also e.g. http://blog.codinghorror.com/performance-is-a-feature/).

Re: Why Is Google Blocking Inbox on Firefox?

#57

Post by custardcream »

silon3 wrote: post #52
eloisant wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering Microsoft is now Open Sourcing dotnet and releasing it for OSX and Linux, at what point did Google and Microsoft crossed each other?

When one can run Visual Studio on OSX/Linux...

That's not going to happen any time soon. Not because they don't want to but because the whole process would be monumentally complicated and expensive.

I suspect we'll see a new 100% managed code IDE in the next 3-5 years that will fit this area nicely. It'll have bits of Visual Studio in it and it may even be called Visual Studio but it won't be what we have now.

Re: Why Is Google Blocking Inbox on Firefox?

#58

Post by morganvachon »

eloisant wrote: post #49
custardcream wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. It's now Microsoft circa 2001.

Considering Microsoft is now Open Sourcing dotnet and releasing it for OSX and Linux, at what point did Google and Microsoft crossed each other?

I would say on Microsoft's part it was when Ballmer was ousted and Nadella took the reins. Nadella seems to be genuinely open to working with instead of against other companies and open source projects. I think he realized the ship was sinking, and he's doing what he can to save it, throwing out old and dead business practices in the process.

I actually like the "new" Microsoft and the direction it's heading, and I'm still trying to wrap my head around that fact.

Re: Why Is Google Blocking Inbox on Firefox?

#59

Post by akavel »

phpnode wrote: post #54
diggan wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks a lot for that information! Will include it in the post when I get a chance. The performance is kind of bad in Firefox but I'm not sure it justifies blocking the entire browser because of that. For a comparison, Google Photos is slow as hell in Firefox, but you could still use it if you want to.

If they'd supported Firefox from the start everyone would be slating them for "crippling" Firefox, or they would have had a poor user experience that would turn a non trivial percentage of early adopters off the entire product. They cannot win here, it was a bug in FF, it is now fixed, presumably they'll stop blocking when the fix is more widely available.

In other words: performance is a feature. And thus, not wanting to ship a product with an important feature missing should be understandable.

Re: Why Is Google Blocking Inbox on Firefox?

#60

Post by silverwind »

diggan wrote: post #13
Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #8

The last paragraph: "However, we still haven't figured out exactly why Google is blocking Inbox on Firefox. That the application is not working, seems to not be fully true. With some more man hours, it seems trivial for Google to get the application to run in Firefox to. Maybe too much Chrome specific technologies or just a try to limit the usage of Firefox on the web?" Is odd as he's spent the rest of the article po…

What I know, given the right vendor prefixes, transitions works mostly the same way on both platforms. I don't think it makes sense to only have transitions for one browser when it's trivial to support other browsers as well. The CSP issue I honestly don't know why that's so but I'm fairly sure they should be able to follow CSP on their own domains, just like the rest of the applications on the web have to do. To me,…

Looking at the CSP error, it looks like there's a blob being blocked, not some XSS from Google's domains.

My guess at the cause would be an CSP implementation difference.

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