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Firefox/Thunderbird Plugins: Is Less More?
comforteagle writes "I've published the first of a two part look at the new dynamic duo of Mozilla's Firefox and Thunderbird. While most folks thus far agree with the 'less is more' mantra when it comes to the base applications, the plugins seem to be a different story. Hey, there's little wiggle room to debate that the firefox base application (the subject of the first article) isn't the shizzle, but how about the add-ons and plugins? For that matter, do you agree that less is more. or is too little included?"
It's great to be able to pick and choose stuff, without everything under the sun installed and enabled. I hate mouse gestures, but can't live without click-to-view Flash and the User Agent Switcher.
...
Yes, but when you don't want Flash, this is wonderful. The flash ad shows up as a button that you have to click on instead of having something playing background music or talking to you in the background...
Good stuff.
site gone from the planet, article text:
There are two wildly successful open source projects right now that are sweeping across Windows, Mac & Linux desktops. Firefox and Thunderbird. Both applications have two distinct characteristics. They are stripped down versions of their predecessor - the Mozilla bundle, and both are based on a plugin structure allowing users to include only features they want or need permitting them to remain simple to use.
In this first of two installments we take a look at Mozilla's Firefox web browser.
Mozilla Firefox is the next generation open source Internet browser from the Mozilla Foundation, and is set to succeed Mozilla Navigator as the default browser for the Mozilla suite of applications at some point in the near future. Firefox and its sister project Mozilla Thunderbird (the new Mozilla mail and news client) are standalone projects which can be run in isolation from one another, making it possible to replace your tired standard browser with a fresh copy of Firefox without getting all the extra bloat you won't use. It's exactly this approach and thinking which lies at the heart of the project and is behind its phenomenal success. The Firefox project was started in 2003 with the aim of becoming the best browser for Microsoft Windows as a result of the disillusionment of a group of developers with the current Navigator program. The group wanted to create a browser to illustrate what a browser could be if it was based on the Gecko layout engine and XPFE with no commercial constraints and no feature creep. At the same time they aimed to strip down the user interface and redesign it until it achieved the goal of being an efficient easy to use way to access the web. Simplicity was and is the projects goal with the embracing of the "less is more" adage, something which I believe they have achieved.
".. if only all open source programs were like this."
At the time of writing Firefox is currently version 0.8 and fully workable as it approaches its milestone 1.0 release. Its release schedule is focused not on deadlines but rather when the browser is ready after the bugs have been squashed and the appropriate features have been implemented. The positive affect of this is that its not a project which is pressurised to fulfil commercial deadlines and therefore focuses more on the quality of the product. This approach can often be found to be lacking in open source programs as they increasing comply with commercial demands.
The method of installation of the program depends on what operating system you are using. If you're using Windows or Mac OS X then there's an easy to use installer which will quickly and without fuss install the program for you. Linux users on the other hand are slightly disadvantaged as there is no installer for the precompiled version although one is planned for 0.9 and above. And of course as with any other open source application the source code is also available for you to compile from scratch if you feel so inclined.
"Firefox really excels in its simplicity, which is a real credit to the developers. They've managed to keep a tight control on the features included in the browser by saying "no" to a lot of submissions. There is no clutter in the browser and the whole experience is one which is focused solely on how a normal user accesses the internet."
Once you've got Firefox installed and loaded you're instantly struck by the simplicity of the program and the feeling that it "just works", this is mainly a result of the less is more attitude which the developers have applied throughout. The user interface throughout the program is well thought out and intuitive, everything is exactly where you'd expect to find it so there's no hunting for this or that as with so many other programs out there. The simplicity of the user interface also has something to do with the fewer features which Firefox has, which makes it harder to clutter up the menus. Overall the menus and dialogues have been well thought ou
You mean this one?
I don't understand. One exists. Did you not know that, or not like the way it is implemented?
Posted from Mozilla Spacemonkey
You're still using Spacemonkey? I'm runing Mozilla Uberphoenix.
On a serious note, the Web Developer pluging can't be beat. It allows you to do many useful things, such as turning off CSS at a site that doesn't use it properly, plus a whole list of other useful tools for web developers.
I agree. Personally I just can't stand the Download manager. But happily there is a solution. btw that is the greatest thing about Mozilla et al. Pretty much not matter what your problem there is almost always an extension or workaround to give you what you want.
Anway, as I was saying there is an an extension you might want to check out. Downloadwith. You can set it up so that wget or getright etc handle your downloads etc. Nothing mindblowing since it is of course possible to just use say Getright with IE but it s dandy way to get around the download manager and offers some decent customization options.
I use wget and it works pretty well.
I'm glad to see the legacy of E-40 getting distilled all the way down to Slashdot.
Although I'm waiting for it to be an option on Babelfish.
Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
http://texturizer.net/firefox/faq.html#q2.2
It requires a registry key to be added if you installed from a zip file.
It's nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.
Don't worry about it. Everyone feels exactly the same. Once Firefox 0.9 arrives this will be totally different as extensions, themes and updating Firefox itself will all be handled by a gooey new managers.
Follow Ben Goodger's blog if you need some ammo to show people Firefox is still improving.
By the time 1.0 comes around all of the little annoyances will probably be gone.
Right now, it's called Nvu. Glaz says he'll be contributing the code back to Mozilla.org so they can make a stand-alone Composer app.
h p?Nvu
http://www.nvu.com
See also Glaz's blog:
http://glazman.org/weblog/dotclear/index.p
I use both in conjunction. Adblock blocks nominated Flash entirely (which is good for ads), whereas Flashblock makes a space in the page for Flash content, but prevents it from playing until you click on it. Sometimes (almost never, but sometimes) Flash is worth seeing.
Vino, gyno, and techno -Bruce Sterling
I love firefox, but the thing I find most annoying are the options. The default options is laughable in it's lack of customizablility. The Things they left out does somewhat better, but also covers some wacky settings I couldn't give 2 cents about. about:config is like my dad's garage. Sure it has everything you need to build a car/house/small government ... but try and find a screwdriver in that mess.
.... [/rant] *gasp* I need a breath
I complain because I wish there was better tab management. As a windows developer who uses gvim I tend to have dozens of windows open at any one time, so having one browser with multiple tabs is a godsend. What I really need, however, is to have all external links (email, trillian, url files) open in a new TAB. Not a freaking window, and not over the current tab I have open. I used Tabbrwoser Extensions for a while and loved the functionality of it. I eventually tracked a nasty bug back to it however. Once or twice a day my CPU would kick into overdrive, 99% used up by firefox. I would have to kill it to get control back and would subsequently loose all my various web pages. As a web developer I found this extremely frustrating. Alas I'm forced to disable my favorite extension and I've been unable to find another one that works properly or a property in about:config that does what I need
"I can not bring myself to believe that if knowledge presents danger, the solution is ignorance" - Isaac Asimov
There really should be an option to open all links in a new tab. Perhaps there is a convenient hot key? (Ctrl+click) That's mighty nice but there should still be a single click mode.
.8, which I use at work (browser.tabs.opentabfor.middleclick)
What's wrong with the middle-click to open a link in a new tab? Granted that most of us who use Windows regularly don't have a middle button, but this is as good of reason as any to finally upgrade that old mouse. And some, like myself, already have a middle button, and love the ability to middle click to open in a new tab, as opposed to the left click to open in the same tab. Of course, I use the Mozilla suite as a whole (I just got used to my email client and browser being one app. Plus, I do update my web site occasionally.) But, the option to have the middle-click to open in a new tab is in FireFox
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Laziness is the father.
My prefernce list is:
1. mouse gestures - rocker rocks!
2. flash click to view - stop annoyance
3. adblock - stop watchin me
4. compact menu - more space for content
5. toolbar enhancements - right click is natural
6. download statusbar - say no to default download mgr
7. cutemenus - they just so cute
8. user agent switcher - for scripts by stuppid webmonkeys
9. image zoomer - sometimes better to see
10. thing they left out - animate once
11. firebird grippies - grippable frames
12. smoothwheel - logitech wheels suck
13. firesomething - to poke fun at moz devs
14. bookmark links checker - if you got lotsa them
Thunderbird:
1. Quotecolors - just nicer
Code poet, espresso fiend, starter upper.
Just set your helper web application in whatever program to run:
mozilla-firefox -remote "openURL(%u, new-tab)"
This will bind to an already existing instance and just open the new tab, leaving everything else as is. I think the new tab does take focus though, which is appropriate.
That support is already there. Since there is no "standard" app for telnet (or ssh), Mozilla doesn't have one preset, but you could set one yourself. It works on Windows because on Windows there is a standard API to ask the OS what app should handle a protocol. Linux has no such beastie, though on modern GNOME systems the gtk2 builds will pick up the gnome-vfs preferences for this (which of course sucks if you happen to be a KDE user; this is where an actual working OpenDesktop thing would be nice).
Here's how I solved it (or so I remember):
m plete"=fal sea lse
Go to the "about:config" page.
Make the following changes:
"browser.download.manager.showAlertOnCo
"browser.download.manager.showWhenStarting"=f
Hope that helps.