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Netscape Releases Security Update
daria42 writes "Less than 24 hours after releasing Netscape 8, Netscape has released a security patch bringing the browser up to version 8.0.1. The patch address security vulnerabilities in version 1.0.3 of the Firefox code on which Netscape is based. The update comes amid online criticism from Firefox developers that the browser was insecure."
i prefer to get my browser from the organ grinder, not the monkey
Don't you think it is wiser to wait 24 hours longer (or maybe a week or so) and then release a quality product rather than issue patches. Imagine if civil engineers started doing the same with buildings and bridges.
fuvoo: watch something
ZDNet Australia has a scathing report on problems with Netscape's original 8.0 release, which shipped with known critical security bugs. ZDNet notes that several key Mozilla devs have lashed out at Netscape, including Firefox lead developer Ben Goodger, who posted a live exploit of the known vulnerability. Gervase Markham, another Mozilla employee found Netscape's claim that Firefox 1.0.4 is "outdated" ridiculous. Ali Ebrahim, another contributor commented that Netscape's claim of "more security choices" is based on a false premise. To their credit, Netscape has since released Netscape 8.0.1, based on Firefox 1.0.4 which plugs the most severe known issues, though the question still remains as to why they released 8.0 in the first place if it contained such severe security issues.
I did not understand why it was based on 1.03 anyway; were they completely unaware of what was going on at the firefox project?
Humor from a Genetically Molested Mind
What is the deal with Netscape 8? It sounds like they basically downloaded the source code for Firefox, recompiled it, and then distributed it as something new.
First, why isn't Firefox going after Netscape and second, why would anyone start using Netscape when Firefox knows their own code better and fixes it faster?
I think I might get the Firefox code myself and create a browser called LOL-I'm-Really-Just-Firefox. It will be huge.
/. ++
Are the browser wars really back? Has anyone tried the new Netscape? Given that they pretty much peaked around 4.7 or something like that, or earlier depending on who you ask, I just don't see any reason to even try it. What is Netscape likely to give me that Firefox can't?
There were only 3 bugs fixed in 8.0.1, not 44! See the Release Notes for yourself.
Netscape just wanted to show off how they can produce patches faster than Microsoft and Firefox.
The promo goes like this: "Miscrosoft leaves holes unpatches for weeks, maybe months. Firefox sometimes takes a few days. But *we* can produce a patch in less than 24 hours! Na na!"
Life is like a web application. Sometime you need cookies just to get by.
Netscape released a statement saying that people who downloaded the browser labeled 8.0 actually got a mis-labeled copy of 7.9.9.9.9. The new version 8.1 will actually be 8.0 and the following patches labeled 8.1.1, 8.1.2, and 8.1.2.1, which will be released daily starting tomorrow, will be relabeled as 8.0.1, 8.1.0, and 8.1.2, respectively. ***NO CARRIER***
We apologize for the above post. Those who were responsible for sacking those who were just sacked, have been sacked.
Windows isn't the answer... it's the question. NO is the answer!
As I recall from yesterday's news, one thing Netscape will give you that Firefox does not is "a toggle which allows switching between Mozilla and Microsoft's rendering engines as needed." The Best of Both Worlds(TM)
http://nerdfortress.com/
Why did Mozilla release Netscape 8, based on Firefox 1.0.3, AFTER they had released the fix? (1.0.4) Why wouldn't they just wait an extra day? Now there will be vulnerable Netscape 8's floating around if people aren't consciencious enough to check for updates daily.
I got a page like that one when trying to use a brand-new nightly, released THE NIGHT BEFORE, when trying to visit the Firefox extension list page. I had to hack my user-agent string to explicity claim to be 1.0.4 even though I was using a NIGHTLY OF THAT BROWSER, and it wouldn't let me in.
Yeesh. Some coder needed a good tongue-lashing that day.
i am a soviet space shuttle
Another thing from yesterday's post (Linked in previous comment): The netscape browser seems to come with a lot more 'features' built in than firefox. And many of those features can be quite difficult to disable. One user reported that Netscape would not stop asking him if he wanted it to remember his passwords, even after unchecking "remember passwords" boxes in 3 different places in his preferences.
Firefox also has the best of both worlds...hehe
The NSA: The only part of the US government that actually listens.
Regardless of the reasons why - For a software company to release a patch for a product they released 24 hours ago is , to say the least embarassing.
I would imagine there are quite a few red faces around netscape today
Imagine if software developers were held to the same standards as engineers.
I get tired people comparing software development to real engineering when developers refuse to follow the same rigorous standards that engineering disciplines have to follow. There are some software engineers out there, but most of the people with that title are simply software developers. Not that every piece of software needs to be engineered, but way too many "software engineers" have no business using the word engineer when they refuse to follow any type of rigorous process around software development.
Again - most software doesn't need to be engineered, but some does. The term "software engineer" is grossly misued most of the time.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
I'm really curious if this is indeed an incremental patch or Mozilla's idea of one--namely a complete download of the product.
I installed Netscape 8 the day it came out for testing purposes. I saw this story, went to Netscape with their default skin and found they had nothing similiar to the Firefox's red ! to alert me that updates were necessary. I went to Tools->Advanced->Software Update and found Automatically Download and install updates was checked by default, so I checked my UA string to find it was still Netscape 8.0. Went back to Software Update and ran Check Now and it did not find any updates. Switched to their other theme (I do appreciate it coming with two themes provided for users to choose from) and found no icon next to that throbber either (as one might expect). Will this be turned on/fixed in the future, or was the functionality for this in the 17 MB minimum hard drive space system requirements difference between it and Firefox?
This coupled with the fact that Firefox themes/extensions do not work and the fact that it has twice the recommended system requirement for processor speed and memory (which seems accurate as it seems slower than Firefox and I am somewhere in between Firefox and Netscape's recoomended CPU speed) are just a few of the reasons I will not switch back.