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DownThemAll (2019)

addons.mozilla.org

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Re: DownThemAll (2019)

#91

Post by desi_ninja »

steffoz wrote: post #40

Wow. Didn't expect this :) I was the author of this tiny extension back in the days (extension #201, I still remember it) together with a friend who recently passed away, Federico Parodi. We hacked the first version when we still didn't know much about JS, but it immediately exploded (500k daily users). Donations were super helpful at that time, being 22 years old with a newborn. After a couple of years (iirc) Nils M…

as a ardent user of the plugin back in 2008-09, I want to say thank you all who made it possible

Re: DownThemAll (2019)

#92

Post by forgotmypw17 »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #87
eitland wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both are forks of older versions of Firefox, aren't they. This makes it harder to keep them patched I think.

Yeah, I don't see how the maintainers can patch security vulns or add support for newer web features (e.g. CSS variables) when the upstream fork is no longer maintained. They would have to write the fixes themselves, which just does not scale for a project that has 1 or 2 developers working on it part-time.

I think we're at a point where there are enough sites out there that we can avoid a good portion of them (i.e. ones written without progressive enhancement in mind) and still be happy.

For example, I am quite happy with visiting only sites which do not require JavaScript, do not use cookie banners, paywalls, and registration prompts.

For my purposes of browsing Teddit, HN, and my own websites, there are more than 20 beautiful, usable, friendly browsers I can think of just off the top of my head.

For everything else, I just close the tab and move on. Past experience leads me to believe I'm not missing much, because sites which break these requirements usually have crap content too.

If I really need something, I can open Chromium (with UO and Vimium) for that particular site and then close it afterwards.

Re: DownThemAll (2019)

#93

Post by smoldesu »

wackget wrote: post #89
tn123 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi Stefano, Nils here, long time no see. Yeah, it was 2006 when I joined you and Federico, if I remember correctly, while you and Federico started DownThemAll! in 2004. #201 is correct :D 2006 was really a long time ago... DownThemAll! went through a lot of revisions since that time, including the work it took to make it restartless, then make it compatible with "electrolysis" and so on. And in the meantime ensure it…

As a life-long Firefox user who has been increasingly angry with Mozilla's direction for the browser for the past ten years, I honestly don't know how developers like you could put up with it. Trashing an entire swathe of extensions - hundreds of thousands of man-hours of work - and then making breaking changes in nearly every subsequent version after that... it's precisely why I've never even considered making a bro…

If you think that's bad, try developing native apps.

Re: DownThemAll (2019)

#94

Post by melony »

smoldesu wrote: post #93
wackget wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a life-long Firefox user who has been increasingly angry with Mozilla's direction for the browser for the past ten years, I honestly don't know how developers like you could put up with it. Trashing an entire swathe of extensions - hundreds of thousands of man-hours of work - and then making breaking changes in nearly every subsequent version after that... it's precisely why I've never even considered making a bro…

If you think that's bad, try developing native apps.

Specifically those for Apple's ecosystem.

Re: DownThemAll (2019)

#95

Post by benbristow »

I've been using this for decades. Originally I pirated it when I was younger but recently bought a lifetime licence (very affordable!) and it's genuinely a great tool if you're on Windows. Does help download speeds too if you're on an ISP where single thread speeds can be a bit rubbish (Virgin Media in the UK). Gets updated often too.

https://www.internetdownloadmanager.com/

Re: DownThemAll (2019)

#96

Post by danijelb »

steffoz wrote: post #40

Wow. Didn't expect this :) I was the author of this tiny extension back in the days (extension #201, I still remember it) together with a friend who recently passed away, Federico Parodi. We hacked the first version when we still didn't know much about JS, but it immediately exploded (500k daily users). Donations were super helpful at that time, being 22 years old with a newborn. After a couple of years (iirc) Nils M…

Thank you so much for the extension. It was a real life saver back then

Re: DownThemAll (2019)

#97

Post by nsonha »

SavantIdiot wrote: post #44

I'll be the brave one to say it: download entire image-based porn sites in one click. Porn has gone almost entirely video now, so the days of galleries have largely disappeared. There were auto-indexers as well that would increment URLs based on patterns.

I did this as a teenager, also entire vBB porn thread, paginated. I basically learned web scrapping after DTA didn't cut it.

Re: DownThemAll (2019)

#98

Post by 5F7bGnd6fWJ66xN »

steffoz wrote: post #40

Wow. Didn't expect this :) I was the author of this tiny extension back in the days (extension #201, I still remember it) together with a friend who recently passed away, Federico Parodi. We hacked the first version when we still didn't know much about JS, but it immediately exploded (500k daily users). Donations were super helpful at that time, being 22 years old with a newborn. After a couple of years (iirc) Nils M…

You are doing God's work. Thank you. I've used your extension almost everyday for many years now. Simple to use!

Re: DownThemAll (2019)

#99

Post by pcwalton »

anoncow wrote: post #84
tn123 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I (Nils) was the maintainer of it for many years at the point already, and I was genuinely considering to let it die for quite a while. I was furious at what mozilla did to the loyal and active extension community and especially on how they did it - essentially by decree without community interaction at all. I was part of the mozilla volunteer army, not just with DownThemAll! and a few other more minor extensions, bu…

Mozilla’s self-sabotaging actions made it seem to me that it was Google’s money talking. That it was a Google funded plan to kill everything that made Firefox great. Really enjoyed Firefox’s heydays and DTA. You guys were a part of saving the internet from IE.

I don't know where this conspiracy theory keeps coming from, but as someone who was there it's definitely untrue. Apply Hanlon's razor.

If Googlers could mind-control Mozilla employees, they wouldn't be sabotaging the browser. They'd be getting Mozilla developers to rubber-stamp their W3C proposals so they could look good on performance reviews.

Re: DownThemAll (2019)

#100

Post by causality0 »

steffoz wrote: post #40

Wow. Didn't expect this :) I was the author of this tiny extension back in the days (extension #201, I still remember it) together with a friend who recently passed away, Federico Parodi. We hacked the first version when we still didn't know much about JS, but it immediately exploded (500k daily users). Donations were super helpful at that time, being 22 years old with a newborn. After a couple of years (iirc) Nils M…

Your extension is why I still have a copy of Firefox 56 installed on my desktop. It makes the webextension version look crippled in comparison.
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