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Pros and Cons of Firefox Critically Evaluated?

Posted by timothy on from the but-all-I've-got-is-cancer dept.

A Dafa Disciple writes "Fred Langa of Information Week has written an article claiming to discuss the 'Pros and Cons of Firefox'. At first I was excited because I thought I was going to get to finally read an enlightening, in-depth article that critically examined the browser. I should have known better. Aside from the usual criticism of open source software, it contains a reference to a Symantec Internet Security Report which claims that more security vulnerabilities in the last six months of 2004 were found in Firefox than IE. I'll leave it to you to analyze Mr. Langa's opinion and scrutinize Symantec's study and reputation as a security software developer."

7 of 674 comments (clear)

  1. So in other words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    you can't handle the truth.

  2. Translation by kaosrain · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    At first I was excited because I thought I was going to get to finally read an enlightening, in-depth article that critically examined the browser. I should have known better.

    Should be read as:

    At first I was excited because I thought I was going to get to read an article about how Firefox is the best thing ever. It turns out it wasn't written by me and is therefore wrong.

  3. Re:The biggest downside to Firefox by John+Hurliman · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    1) Create javascript-driven frontend allowing you to choose your plugins, add e-mail client or calendar, etc.

    2) Tie the frontend to the NSIS installer and generate a customized installer. Use caching to alleviate CPU stress.

    3) ...

    4) Profit!

  4. Re:Enlightening... by Jeff+Hornby · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Also, anybody can get access to the source of Firefox, while IE doesn't have publicly viewable source code. Comparing vulnerabilities among the two browsers is an apples and oranges afair thanks to this.

    So tell me: exactly how many hours a week do you personally spend reviewing the Firefox code?

    The fact is that the open source idea of code reviewed by thousands of eyeballs is false. Open source software can be reviewed by thousands of people but I have yet to meet anybody who is actually doing so.

    --
    Why doesn't Slashdot ever get slashdotted?
  5. Re:Con: You can't use autocomplete by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Yes. I should not have to know a damn thing about computers in order to protect my information.

    Yes. I should not have to know a damn thing about driving in order to get behind the wheel.

    Oh, wait. That sounds silly, doesn't it?

  6. Re:Cons of Mac Firefox by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    its only you Mac zealots (and employees) who seem to have a problem with Firefox for the Mac. I use Firefox on OS X over the buggy Safari and I don't see anything wrong with the OS X version of Firefox. But then again, I am used to using it on Linux and Windows as well, so I don't freak out when an app doesn't fit in perfectly. Maybe Safari is better with Tiger, but the current [pre-Tiger] version is not very good.

    Firefox isn't a Mac application. It's a third-party application that was ported badly to the Mac.

    If you are in fact an Apple employee, take note that you aren't helping your employer win any new customers with your constant trolling.

  7. Firefox crashes often and forgets what you had ope by skintigh2 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    The biggest downside is that firefox crashes, a lot, and just about every time I visit a site with java.

    Worse still, this crash-prone browser takes all it's windows with it (unlike IE) and does not remember what you had opened (unlike opera).