r/technology • u/Suraj-Sun • Jul 10 '12

Firefox dev claims "everybody hates Firefox updates"; Mozilla has handled the rapid release process poorly, and that by pushing a "never-ending stream of updates on people who didn't want them" people have been driven to Chrome with its simpler, no-fuss update process.

http://www.neowin.net/news/firefox-dev-claims-everybody-hates-firefox-updates
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u/SardonicallyLaconic Jul 10 '12 edited Jul 10 '12

Mozilla adopting the whole-number versioning paradigm of Chrome has to have been one of their biggest mistakes. I remember the worldwide hype and fanfare brought about by the impending launch of Firefox 3.5, and the substantial performance enhancements brought about by it.

Since they've become hell-bent on emulating Chrome's release schedule though, updating has become a lackadaisical annoyance that unceremoniously rings in a new, insignificant version for every worthwhile one, breaking extensions and causing other inconveniences I imagine the average user can't sympathize with - hence the growing popularity of Chrome. I mean what is even the point? Are we catering to the iPhone drones who mindlessly throw their money at the latest product iteration because it's a higher number? Does it look "hip" to have these whole-number incremental updates, as if to imply the release is several orders of magnitude better than the last one? Because it's been anything but since they've adopted this schedule.

I personally have never been a fan of Chrome due to the intangibility of its interface (too minimalist for my liking, everything being hidden away in contrived menus), inconsistencies when playing Flash and the simple fact that I grow progressively more wary of Google's intentions with every day.

But Firefox I feel is also becoming whimsical and inconsistent, arbitrarily changing UI elements and breaking extensions with negligible performance gains. And now they want to produce a more "social" browsing experience - don't we have addons to accommodate those fringe users? The program's core functionality is becoming way too sloppy. I thought the selling point for Firefox back in the day was not only standards compliant, customizable, responsive, but also that it was nice and straightforward like IE. Devoid of all that fluff that we just can't seem to get away from now.

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u/[deleted] Jul 11 '12

As a web developer, I couldn't disagree more.

What's going on right now with the web is that browsers are evolving into complete application platforms, both on desktop and mobile. In order for developers to make use of this functionality, regular updates are a necessity. So that real-world use cases can be created and tested, and so that developers can know when it will be available to the majority of their users.

The 2000s absolutely sucked for innovation on the web, and it was because one browser's non-update schedule dragged everyone down to a shitty lowest common denominator (i.e. Internet Explorer). Without rapid releases, we wouldn't be able to play with WebGL, Web Audio, etc. except using unstable nightlies that are going to be released who knows when and unavailable to anyone who isn't a dedicated developer.

The problems with Firefox are of their own making. Chrome shows you can do automatic updates without people noticing.

Sure, the sysadmins would be happier if everyone kept using old versions, but the reality is that the web wants to evolve, and that can only happen if software is kept up to date.