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Fuck It, I'm Going Back to Firefox

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Re: Fuck It, I'm Going Back to Firefox

#641

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Ad Block Plus extension is itself a notorious memory and CPU hog [1]. Chrome's slimmer uBlock extension has now been ported to Firefox [2]. [1] https://blog.mozilla.org/nnethercote/2014/05/14/adblock-plus... [2] https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock/releases

Please don't put the blame solely on AdBlock Plus. Most of the problem is due to the rulesets, not the extension itself. EasyList and friends have a truly frightening number of broad CSS element hiding rules, which are much less efficient than the URL blocking rules that were the original AdBlock mode and should have stayed the primary means of blocking.

This is patently untrue, as I subscribe to the exact same filter rulesets in uBlock, and it makes a dramatic, incredible difference to the browser's performance.

Re: Fuck It, I'm Going Back to Firefox

#642

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Have the scales tipped the other way recently? Chrome still feels faster to me, but I only have one active extension (Ad Blocker).

I think most people on HN using FF are running nightly versions, I know I was. The nightly versions of FF have always had the edge on Chrome, but I think it's just recently that the stable version of FF has really gotten pretty much on par with Chrome, and I'd say definitely better on the Linux 64bit.

Nightly -> Stable every ~12 weeks or so, so should feel just as fast. I noticed this difference too, but I believe that's as I use it with a fresh profile each time.

Re: Fuck It, I'm Going Back to Firefox

#643
post #641

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't put the blame solely on AdBlock Plus. Most of the problem is due to the rulesets, not the extension itself. EasyList and friends have a truly frightening number of broad CSS element hiding rules, which are much less efficient than the URL blocking rules that were the original AdBlock mode and should have stayed the primary means of blocking.

This is patently untrue, as I subscribe to the exact same filter rulesets in uBlock, and it makes a dramatic, incredible difference to the browser's performance.

I didn't say that there was no difference in performance between uBlock and ABP. I was explaining that the performance problems with ABP are a result of it being misused. uBlock tolerates the abuse much better, but URL based blocking should still be the first line of defense.

Re: Fuck It, I'm Going Back to Firefox

#644

I've been using Safari since Yosemite, before I was using firefox since 2010 or so (back from Chrome). I love what Firefox means, but I don't love that they receive a shitload amount of money from Google and that constraints them a lot from their true mission. Just go to about:config and search 'google', there are several settings that use google by default to send information. I understand that they need the money,…

About the deal with Google, that bothered me as well, fortunately it has expired last year and has not been renewed. Instead a deal with a lot more companies has been made, based on which part in the world you live in. For the US Mozilla has made a five-year partnership with Yahoo, part of that deal is that Yahoo respects the Do-Not-Track preference of Firefox clients. See https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2014/11/19/pro…

That's really cool, thanks for sharing :)

Re: Fuck It, I'm Going Back to Firefox

#645

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I Firefox with Vimperator they're included in URL search as you start entering URLs. Based on either the URL or the page title / bookmark description. This ... is exceptionally powerful.

Yeah, bookmarks are included like that with the standard search bar too, but I keep a lot of history so they don't really stand out.

They're distinguished as you type in Vimperator, and you can arrow up/down through the list to specific targets.

Re: Fuck It, I'm Going Back to Firefox

#646
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its been my recent experience too, I keep a lot of tabs open and began to notice Chrome was filling up my memory. Very strange that Google let the situation get so bad. Mind you I find the Chrome developer tools far more powerful and intuitive than those in Firefox which stops me moving entirely.

The Firefox Devtools team regularly probes the webdev community on the features they need - make sure you let them know (and don't be surprised if they're in Aurora already).

Ta yeah, I probably should but its usually just I don't find the approach the UI takes intuitive in a lot of cases. Even just things like doing a search, viewing results, compared to Chrome I find it all a little painful...not sure that's the sort of thing I can meaningfully report though.

Re: Fuck It, I'm Going Back to Firefox

#647

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> Such usage is just not possible with Chrome. In your opinion, what makes this "impossible"? I also use a few hundred tabs at any one time (also to the consternation of everyone who sees any _one_ of the Chrome windows I have open) and I'm very happy with Chrome.

How do you see which tab is which? (I gave up on Chrome about 20 months ago for Firefox's superior tab handling, better stability, and being less of a resource hog. Oh, and for not spying on me.)

I use an extension called switch to tab. It uses the omnibox interface to auto complete what you type and switch to the right tab. (and when I'm switching back and forth multiple times between two tabs, I just have muscle memory for how many tabs apart they are).

What are you referring to specifically with the "spying on you" claim? I wasn't aware of any behavior like that other than features that you can turn off that end up sending info to Google servers (like tab sync).

Re: Fuck It, I'm Going Back to Firefox

#648

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I find this essentially when I run high numbers of tabs: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/tree-style-ta... Though another comment has led me to wonder if FF doesn't have something similar built-in.

Between Tree Style Tabs and The Fox Only Better[0] I can't see myself going to Chrome or any other browser. The UI is pretty much hidden until I need it, giving me maximum browsing space. [0] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/the-fox-only-...

Thanks for that, TFoB is promising so far, though it seems to notch up CPU usage.

Re: Fuck It, I'm Going Back to Firefox

#649

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> doesn't clog up my memory the way Chrome What exactly is "clogging up memory" that everyone here complains about? I can understand if Chrome is using 6 / 8gb of your ram and you are simultaneously running photoshop and it can't grab any memory due to Chrome, but is this the case? Shouldn't Chrome use as much RAM as it can to ensure speedy performance provided its not starving out any other applications? I have litt…

Superfluous RAM use hurts battery life a lot. Using Safari over Chrome easily saves 2+ hours for me.

Ah could point! I could even imagine scenarios about pre-fecthing content (say loading the next page that may never be viewed) and throwing it in RAM. Definitely would not be good for battery life.

Cheers!

Re: Fuck It, I'm Going Back to Firefox

#650

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lol. You really think a new programming language will increase speed?! Rust is not faster as C++ for sure.

Actually re-writing things might make it faster.

yes we have enough proof of that concept... I do not believe you. It's a urban myth that rewriting always make things faster. Especially when looking at a C(++) code basis. Rust will maybe make the code safer but I doubt it will make it faster.
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