Slashdot Mirror
Firefox nears 50 Million Downloads
bluephone writes "Firefox hit 49,000,000 downloads last night. Today, as we approach 50,000,000, SpreadFirefox is offering prizes for photographic proof of your most amazing spectacles to celebrate. To quote: 'We have a handful of unique prizes that you won't find anywhere else,
and we're asking you to do one simple thing to claim one: impress us.
As we drive toward 50 million downloads, do something so cool, so
unusual and so spectacular to spread Firefox that we can't help but scurry around the Mozilla Foundation to tell every one.' But you don't have long. The Infocraft Firefox Counter shows just over 800,000 downloads left at the time of this submission!"
Any devs volunteered to swim the Pacific over this?
Massive networking attempt for friends
The subset of people who visit Network Mirror are showing 75% Firefox & 22% IE.
"I'd rather be a lightning rod than a seismometer." -Ken Kesey
Did the article just ask me to go on a mass shooting spree while wearing a firefox shirt?
Well, I'm told GNU is like a Virus, and FireFox is open source, so I can think of a great way *I'd* like to spread it!
Of course, they may have trouble posting the pictures on spreadfirefox!
--LWM
Besides, real men use Opera.
The best things keep on getting better.
All you need to do is hack paris hiltons new blackberry, put in a folder called pics, include firefox.exe in it.. release details on slashdot as a troll. BAM. 2 billion installs.
** "It's not my job to stand between the people talking to me, and the ones listening to me." -- Pego the Jerk
I'm kind of torn between spamming Microsoft's internal network and the historically accurate, Texan outlaw approach (download or say yer prayers!)
I just dipped a few dozen foxes in lighter fluid and set them scurrying around the park aflame, but those damn firefox people just called me a sick bastard.
Joking aside, is this just 1.0+ downloads, or all downloads ever?
Going back to school for entry-level jobs?
Just 1.0+ downloads.
jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]
The Army reading list
Anyone find it odd that the spreadfirefox image galleries don't display properly in firefox (e.g. http://www.spreadfirefox.com/?q=image/tid/42). Maybe 1600x1200 is just too much for the page? Who knows?
your most amazing spectacles
Sorry, I just got contacts.
Take life easy: one bit at a time.
I will celebrate by rounding up 50,000 actual foxes and setting them all on fire!
And to really turn it in to a spectacle, I will call PITA and give them advanced warning of the event, so they can round up whoever they can find to try to stop me... and then I'll do it an hour earlier than I said I would.
MWwaaah-hahahahaha!!!
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Of course, often a download my indicate more than one install: at my parents, I downloaded the program once and installed it on all machines (4 in total)
So, we cannot say much from download numbers about the spread of the program. We still have the risk that we geeks/nerds download it for people and those people stick to IE. Case in point: I'm a teacher and all my pupils use IE. Even though, I always tell them to use Firefox. Why? Don't ask me... I'm only doing this job since january.
Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
That's a screenshot of Firefox with the RSS watcher looking at the download counter (mentioned in the article). Asa just happened to have perfect timing, to catch it, unless he was just watching it all day. :)
jX [ Make everything as simple as possible, but no simpler. - Einstein ]
Binary milestones are for nerds. They are what matters.
Transcend Humanity. Please.
Seriously... Zonk won because he posted this on slashdot...
I suspect that a few of the responses to this campaign will have the hapless promoters throwing their hands in front of their eyes, whimpering, "I really didn't need to see that..."
You can't talk about Wikipedia's flaws on Wikipedia
I can now download Firefox at a blazing 6.7kbps.
/.er is downloading Firefox just to make the counter go up.
And it looks like every
As if this wasn't expected.
Wer mit Ungeheuern kämpft, mag zusehn, dass er nicht dabei zum Ungeheuer wird. --Nietzsche
The Opera CEO announced he would swim from England to the USA for a mere fraction of firefox downloads.
Accordingly, perhaps Firefox users could tell Microsoft to take a hive dive into a shallow pool.
I opened up two copies of the spreadfirefox counter page, and the counts differed. That is odd.
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
Need to fly around the world naked by flapping arms with a sparkler hanging out his butt.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
But shouldn't it be 50 mil / 4 = 12.5 mil because almost all users automatically updated from 1.0.0.0 to .1, .2 and then .3?
Nope.
DL source... check
Add a couple of bits of code from Bagle and Netsky... check
Compiles... check
Crack the server, upload the new release...
Welcome to 100 million Firefoxes overnight!
But shouldn't it be 50 mil / 4 = 12.5 mil because almost all users automatically updated from 1.0.0.0 to .1, .2 and then .3?
We're not counting those users who updated via our application update mechanism.
- A
I've downloaded 1.0, 1.0.1, 1.0.2 and 1.0.3 (well also 0.3-1.0PR1 but that doesn't count in the total). I've downloaded them at work and at home and to my laptop at separate times. That translates to 12 downloads but only two users.
Conversely, I put the Windoze installer on the server at work and everyone at work installs it from there (and it's the preferred browser of everyone at the office, even Windoze users).
So downloads != users.
~~~~~~~
"You are not remembered for doing what is expected of you." - Atul Chitnis
Even Old Testament folks were getting down with Firefox: "And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing Corn of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the vineyards and olives." "Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson, the son in law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire." (Judges 15:1-6 KJV)
It doesn't render properly in Firefox or Konqueror. Must be one of those IE only sites.
If I open the page on IE it shows the number os downloads after maybe 20 Seconds...
If I open it in Firefox 1.0.1 the counter never starts, keeps showing "Loading..."
Redirect all traffic from the Goatse.cx domain to SpreadFirefox.com?
OK, now that so many home users have Firefox, and that it works really well, maybe it is time to tackle the corporate front?
.ini file as argument to the install, specifying:
.ini or whatever should also expand environment variables like %username%, %userprofile%, etc. (and $HOME etc. on Unix).
FF could be made much easier and practical for administrators to deploy.
There is FFDeploy, but I would hope for something better and easier.
A possibility would be to allow some
- profile location (with the possibility to leave out that stupid random directory name in the profile path),
- a cache directory separate from the profile folder and/or the right registry entries so the cache isn't copied over the network at every logon/logoff.
- extensions to be installed straight away,
- etc.
That
If you are deploying FF on your network, have you found a way to do it without going to every machine and setting it up manually?
Skype doesn't face the compitition Firefox does - there's not vendor installing a similar application with every copy of the OS
game over.
I keep forgetting my place. Jesus is for losers. Why do I still play to the crowd?
This article isn't news, and it doesn't really matter. Most /. articles fall into at least one of those categories. Its not like Firefox released a new version, or was offering new services. This article is advertisement encouraging people to visit the website and brand themselves for some 'secret prizes'.
This is my last post.
[6th Estate]
i'm not sure what this is, but i would consider it a godsend if the mozilla team decided to "accidentally" break support for animated gifs, instead only showing the first frame.
i don't need a 900K photo slideshow in gif on every message board. no thanks
Taking a break from the typical Slashdot cynicism, I gotta say you just made my day with that one. I'm adding you to my friends list...
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit
Almost every one is notified of the availability of new minor releases, right? and those who are savy enough to install firefox are savy enough to update too. So, You can pretty much divide 50 mil by 4.
"your most amazing spectacles" Oh man, I got the sweetest pair of glasses, they got these curly things aroudn the eyes, and oh yeah, they like shoot lasers, and they have sonar. That prize is mine!
No smoking sigs indoors.
Oh dear Lord, not the religious right! Oh how eeeeevil! (as opposed to the holy & righteous secular left? Bwahaha!)
Microsoft just donates money to whoever happens to be in power at the time (see opensecrets.org). Your original post was totally off-topic and inflammatory, and is being modded as such by secular, leftist Slashdotters like yourself. Kind of ironic.
Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit
Is that according to a friend of mine, it's just the best browser to use for porn surfing.
*cough*
Firefox asks me to update when a new version is released but it really just downloads another version. It would be cool if they did something that just updated it self instead of just downloading a new version.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
/. renders fine on the linux version of firefox and, it seems reasonble to me to assume that many people use linux while on /. I've had several problems with firefox under windows, which is why I filed bug reports and then mostly stopped using windows for internet browsing. I've never had a single problem with firefox under linux, and that could be because the windows version of firefox isn't very stable or because windows isn't very stable.
get a free laptop
I'm the world's biggest fan of Microsoft. To me, Microsoft Excel is the best application ever written, and Microsoft C#/.NET is the best programming language and operating environment ever developed.
Oh yeah, that sounds like an objective web page. How much more stable do you need? I only rarely experience problems with firefox, and those typically are attributed to crappy plugin implementations (such as Adobe's PDF Reader - which I've since stopped using, the resource hog it is).
Further, regarding the il rendering of slashdot, maybe if the site code maintainers would update the template to something that actually validates, everything would Just Work. As of now, Slashdot doesn't even validate at HTML 3.2. It includes no character encoding information and the SGML parser on W3 comes up with 114 errors. Maybe they could follow some advice and Retool Slashdot with web standards.
As many others have repeatedly stated, the Slashdot rendering bug has been repaired already. Until Firefox 1.1, based on Gecko 1.8 (which contains the fix) is released, you can use the Slashfix extension, or alternately force a page reflow by changing the font size.
As for Firefox stability in general, did you follow the installation instructions? There are some pitfalls associated with the installation process, especially if you are upgrading from a previous version. The MozillaZine Knowledge Base is a good place to start.
SCREW THE ADS! http://adblock.mozdev.org/ Proud user of teh Fox of Fire - Registered Linux User #289618
Step 1: Paint SPREADFIREFOX.com on chest
Step 2: Wear baby-blue tutu under clothes
Step 3: Attend Olympic sporting event
Step 4: Remove clothes
Step 5: Dive from Olympic diving board
Step 6: uh... profit?
SpreadFirefox is offering prizes for photographic proof of your most amazing spectacles to celebrate.
That prize is as good as mine.
For the record, Fire Fox is another name for the Red Panda. Yes, they do actually exist.
It is a multiple frame sequence of a dust-devil on Mars, courtesy of the martian rover. Very cool, and worth the bandwidth (yes - I don't mean the local bandwidth, I mean the interplanetary transmission, for which bits are in somewhat limited supply).
Getting a bunch of PETA members somewhere by setting a bunch of foxes on fire?
That's just plain flamebait!
No, I don't know which one... I'll google it myself if I wind up needing it.
Tech Public Policy stuff
no
maybe other people do?
How does it count all the countless downloads from unofficial mirrors? And shippings with Linux distros? Downloads through the Gentoo Linux distfiles repository?
Let's let Firefox celebrate this one without worrying that it might not be the 'perfect' benchmark.
because the flames will go out
Set it loose in Redmond, where it will give that town some true meaning its name. =P
Even if your bullshit drivel was true (which is debatable), that's still half the population of this country.
But let me get this straight. If I use Windows, I must be a religious right-wing nut... eh?
Jeebus, if that isn't one of the biggest leap of faith (no pun intended) generalizations I've seen from this sorry crowd, I don't know what it is.
I suppose next you're going to accuse Windows users of killing baby seals by running them over with their SUVs. Go ahead, you want to.
Not many, probably. The only time I didn't use auto update was when I had a copy of the install sitting on another machine, and I didn't want to download it again.
- Chuq
This broadcast was brought to you by Fox News.
(Sorry, couldn't resist the pun.)
As we drive toward 50 million downloads, do something so cool, so unusual and so spectacular to spread Firefox that we can't help but scurry around the Mozilla Foundation to tell every one.'
What if I put a link to mozilla.org in my Slashdot sig! Then Millions of Nerds (who have already DL'ed Firefox) will see it!
Tag lost or not installed.
There was a story a while back about flaws in Firefox and that it should integrate an instant messenger client. Kinda...
My idea is to have a IM/IRC panel that automatically shows other Firefox users with their windows open to the same page or maybe site. Just think how cool it would be if you read some comment on Slashdot and it says the author is online; you can chat and followup a discussion without having to post lots of +0 Noise posts that nobody else really cares about anyway. Or maybe you're reading some technical article and see a few other Firefox users on the same page -- you can ask them some question specific to that page (one might be the author with the page open in firefox to answer questions, ask readers what they think of the wroiting, etc).
If done right this could be pretty darn cool IMO. It has to be done with the browser because basically it should be a system that applies to all websites. This would also be a great social aspect to help build the Firefox community. The server load could be balanced by hashing the site or URL and thereby dividing the load on the browser end.
Thinking I may write "firefox" on my penis to represent small and sleek, versus IE on my bloated stomache and run through the streets of London naked. That's a promotional tool thats sure to satisfy
http://www.mample.net
So... getting consultation from a variety of sources is a BAD thing?
...it's really a sad day for America when we require a goddamn ACT OF CONGRESS to make our DVD players work properly. ~
Not quite. It is a real counter that synchronizes with the actual number every 60 seconds. In the interim, it increases by a constantly adjusting rate that's usually pretty close to correct. See http://www.infocraft.com/projects/ffcounter/
Hi! My hot and foxy lesbian friends and I made this arousing lesbian screensaver! Simply click on this IE/Outlook Exploi . . . link. Hope you enjoy!
None, of course, they blue-screen themselves.
Tech Public Policy stuff
the worst part of the update process is the way you have to re-download the whole works and slog through the installer again. you even have to fight the firefox homepage checkbox.
The only question Ralph Reed can answer for MS are:
Would anybody in his right mind pay $240,000 for the answers to those questions? Even if Reed threw in the answer to "How can I spread bubonic plague at 1 Microsoft Way?" in for free, it's still a bad deal.
Consider it a delayed payoff for DOJ transforming it's victory in DOJ v MS into a loss. Reed delivered, now it's MS's turn.
Tech Public Policy stuff
Including repeated downloads of 1.01, 1.02, and 1.03 through the update mechanism, I'm assuming, right?
> > How many Windows in Redmond can *you* blue-screen ;)
> None, of course, they blue-screen themselves.
Nintendo does not blue-screen. Flashing gray and black, on the other hand...
Real men use while loops and pipe wget to /dev/null
I was just skimming, saw your nick, and thought "I'll bet that has something to do with Ruby!"
--MarkusQ
Firefox users tend to download new versions of their browser more than users of other browsers...I suspect...
Average unique visitors per day: 5455 (users range from video game players to video game modders) Internet Explorer 6.0 - 66.3 % Firefox - 24.8 % Internet Explorer 5.5 oder älter - 2.19 % Safari - 1.64 % Gecko - 1.42 % Netscape - 1.07 % Opera - 0.77 % Mozilla - 0.27 % (entries less than .27 removed)
someone (preferably female0 could cos-play as firefox-tan http://images.google.com/images?q=firefox-tan&hl=e n&lr=&sa=N&tab=wi
i am the self-proclaimed king of free stuff
Sort of like show us your can!
Help us build a better map!
Amazing spectacles like these?
I have noticed a marked increase in instability with the 1.0.3 release. I have sent in bug reports of a particular news website crashing firefox consistently (stuff.co.nz, try http://go.fark.com/cgi/fark/go.pl?IDLink=1458241&l ocation=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stuff.co.nz%2Fstuff%2F0%2 C2106%2C3258588a10895%2C00.html), and in the web application I work on, I also get relatively frequent crashes.
In the case of the web application I work on, this is pure W3c compliant code. It does not appear to be terribly consistent, but it seems to happend while a number of frames are loading, then clicking another link that will change to load a different frameset.
It is possible that this is happening as a result of the extensions I have installed or the custom stylesheet I sue to limit ads. I haven't yet had a chance to test against a vanilla install of firefox.
Anyway it is an unwelcome surprise to have firefox crash on me regularly.
meh
Some pictures of (fire)foxy girls will probably be in the top 10.
No.
"Not many" was my answer to "How many people are like me [..] had to use IE to get the update?"
"The only time I didn't use auto update was when I had a copy of the install sitting on another machine, and I didn't want to download it again." - by this I meant that auto update has always worked for me when I wanted to use it - which was several times (many different machines) over the past few weeks - indicating that it is not a problem effecting everyone and is likely a problem specific to the original poster.
The only time I didn't use auto-update, was when I didn't attempt it to start with (ie. the new version was already downloaded).
- Chuq
Congratulations! Firefox 50 Million Commemorative Coins At 5:47 AM PST this morning, we rolled over the 50,000,000 line. Thanks to the hundreds of you who have regaled us with your heartwarming and often hilarious tales of spreading Firefox. We're featuring some of the best in the right column, and those members are taking home one of 50 limited edition coins celebrating this milestone, along with other goodies. Even the coins themselves were designed by one of our most talented volunteers, graphics designer Jamey Boj. Along with coin #1 in the series, we are also awarding a very special prize--the biggest we've ever given out--to the lucky SpreadFirefox affiliate who delivered the golden click that went with the 50 millionth download. We have identified this person and will withhold her information until she accepts the prize. Check back early next week! In the mean time, we've got 39 more coins to give away, as well as some signed gear. Keep those great spreading stories coming to fifty@spreadfirefox.com.
Monkeys. In my pants.
Bwahahahaha.