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Firefox Hits 80,000,000 Downloads
asa writes "It's been nine months since the release of Firefox 1.0 and with tens of millions of users we most certainly are taking back the web. Today our Firefox web browser hit the 80,000,000 downloads mark. You can see the live counter over at SpreadFirefox.com."
The long and the short of it is that nobody knows for sure. The point isn't exactly what the number means (80 000 000 unique downloads vs. 80 000 000 downloads by a crazed fan), but that the number is increasing, and therefore so much Firefox use to some extent.
Personally I've been installing it on customer's systems for a few weeks now as a way to beat spyware. Some of them adopt it, some of them don't. But those who do adopt constitute an increase in Firefox use.
80 million? We get it Slashdot. People are using Firefox. Stick to 0, 50, and 100 if you must.
On another point, wheres the discussion here? Are we all supposed to just pat ourselves on the back for a "job well done"? Whats the significance of this?
This topic has been discussed a good dozen times already on slashdot
And will be discussed a dozen times over and over again because slashdot editors insist in publishing every single download milestone firefox reaches.
No sig
Excuse me?
So when I choose to download (and I just checked, its just a download link, not a form), Mozilla.org is pulling information about my system before beginning the download. And they do this without letting me know? And they do it silently and inline with the download? And they somehow differentiate between my notebook and the guy in the next cube with the same notebook?And they somehow compare my system information generated with todays download and cross check against the other 80 million unique entries?
Wow. Keep on taking back that web, keep on making shit up, and keep on (somehow) being moderated informative by someone who actually believed you.
>similarly to XP activation, Firefox sends us a code generated according to the computer's hardware
Oh come on, this is just trolling.
The secret code if it exists is called USER_AGENT. Firefox downloads don't get counted. Nor do downloads from the update mechanism. Surely, if this secret code exists you can sniff the http session and post it here.
Seamonkey (the Mozilla Suite), however useful, isn't exactly "well designed" in that it's too monolithical. If you want the web browser, you get the e-mail client, calendar, Usenet client and fries on the side with it, whether you want to or not. For those of us using other programs for mailing/Usenet posting/calendaring/whatever-else, that's just a waste of resources.
The same thing goes for the plug-in architecture of Firefox. Those who don't want/need mouse gestures don't have to waste resources on them, for example. The plug-ins also allow for a more distributed development model, since people can contribute Firefox functionality as a plug-in, without having to contribute the code to the Mozilla Foundation.
As for Firefox going submarine, that's not going to happen. The Firefox/Thunderbird/Sunbird suite is the official replacement of Seamonkey, which will stop being developed after a certain point (I don't remember when, however). And then there's the issue if why they'd actaully want to do that...