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Firefox Lead Engineer On Origins, Security, And More

Posted by timothy on from the go-put-firefox-on-someone's-computer dept.

An anonymous reader writes "ZDNet has an interesting interview with Ben Goodger, the lead engineer for Firefox. When asked to comment on critics' claim that Firefox has a better security reputation than IE because it doesn't have enough market share to attract trouble, Goodger responded with a one-two punch. "Firefox is better designed in a number of ways -- we have no "mode" that allows untrusted content to be executed automatically, for example -- no "safe zone. Another reason -- market share does not predict security. Apache has more market share than has Microsoft IIS, which has more holes than Apache." On Longhorn, he believes it will be a tough sell for Microsoft because of backward compatibility issues."

4 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. firefox vs. Nortons by zardoz342 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I just had a customer tell me he deleted Firefox because the latest version of Nortons told him it was a security risk, so he's back to IE, and blamed ME for compromising his system

  2. Re:It's simple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Microsoft never WANTED to develop a browser. They were FORCED to by MS execs who thought Netscape had enough potential to cause money loss. Once they made a feature-rich browser (although insecure, no one argues that it doesn't do enough), they put Netscape into the red. Now they drag their heels everytime someone finds a security issue in Explorer. It served its purpose and they aren't interested in continuing its development.

  3. The most important thing he said... by EvilJohn · · Score: 3, Interesting
    ...and why Firefox will succeed:
    "I use the tools that let me get stuff done quickly -- no brand affiliation or idolatry."
    --

    Less Talk, More Beer.
  4. security? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    hey how about that -feature that allows you to show ones saved passwords if they dont have a master password set? (oh btw the master passwd being asked for every 3 seconds is frustrating) yeah i know there were other ways to do this, but theres no good reason to a user interface in firefox for it. this -feature- affects firefox1.0PR it is listed under bug 259996