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Mozilla Leaves Out Linux For Initial Web App Support

Posted by timothy on from the thy-fickle-heart dept.

darthcamaro writes "Guess What? Linux is not a primary platform for Mozilla. For Mozilla's upcoming Web Apps marketplace, Linux support is not part of the initial release. Some Mozilla developers simply are shrugging this off as Windows and Mac dominate the Mozilla user landscape today."

18 of 403 comments (clear)

  1. Fork it, then by crazyjj · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Unlike with Internet Explorer, if the Linux community feels strongly about this, they could always do their own fork. So stop bitching and start coding.

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    1. Re:Fork it, then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You most likely wouldn't even need to fork it, it's not like Mozilla is fundamentally opposed to the idea, they just can't justify the resources necessary for it at the moment. If you were to fully implement it with some decent code, I'm pretty sure Mozilla would be more than happy to integrate it.

    2. Re:Fork it, then by cpu6502 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Forking is what causes forking confusion.

      It makes newbies runaway from GNUlinux rather than try it, and even experienced people like me say, "I'm tired of 10 different variants of Mozilla browsers, and the desktop changing every release. I'm going back to Win or Mac OS for some multiyear stability."

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    3. Re:Fork it, then by localman57 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      According to Barry Schwartz (Let the spaceballs jokes begin...) it not only confuses people, it actually makes them less satisfied:

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Paradox_of_Choice:_Why_More_Is_Less

      One of the reasons for this is percieved "Missed Opportunities". The idea that, yeah, maybe you picked Firefox, but you have a nagging feeling that you might have been happier with IceWeasel. This makes you enjoy FireFox less, through no fault of FireFox itself.

    4. Re:Fork it, then by Brad1138 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It reminds me a bit of the cola wars, so many different variants, there isn't room on the shelves for all of them. It is what is killing Linux as a viable alternative to Windows/Mac. For us computer geeks, it is fun to switch between variants and pick our favorite. To the average computer user it is confusing, and just more work for software developers.

      Like it or not, Ubuntu is the best hope for Linux in the real world. It is becoming big enough that software companies and consumers can focus on one Linux product. If Ubuntu is just the flavor of the day and fades like Red Hat etc, I will give up hope of Linux ever really "making it" to the desktop for the average user.

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    5. Re:Fork it, then by Spicerun · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Making software cross platform can be extremely time consuming" BULL! Do your software right, and you'd be surprised how easily and effortlessly it will integrate into cross-platforms. Of course, that would require you to consider well your approach as you start to code, which would be 98% more work than most developers want to do.

  2. Useless anyway by Hatta · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What's a "web app marketplace" and why would I need one anyway? There's plenty of useful software available to me in the repositories. There are plenty of websites I can browse with a regular browser. There are plenty of extensions I can use to customize my browsing experience.

    Seriously, what does a "web app marketplace" have to offer that isn't already done better through one of the above resources?

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    1. Re:Useless anyway by Lumpy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Seriously, what does a "web app marketplace" have to offer that isn't already done better through one of the above resources?"

      A way for Mozilla foundation to have direct access to your wallet.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    2. Re:Useless anyway by metalgamer84 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Welcome to to the tablet/smartphone age, where everything is an app. Apps on your tablet, apps on your phone, apps on your desktop, apps on your laptop. "Software" is no more, "apps" are the future...or something like that. I despise this market shift of the last four or five years of everything needs to be mobilized as an app so no matter if you are on a tablet, smartphone or laptop/desktop everything is an app.

      Apps have a place, I guess, on phones and tablets. Keep that crap off of my machines that I actually use for productivity(laptop/desktop).

    3. Re:Useless anyway by Chemisor · · Score: 4, Insightful

      App is merely the new name for software. It isn't even all that new; weren't we talking about "killer apps" twenty years ago? I, for one, welcome our new, shorter named, software.

  3. What? by Corson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I thought that Web App = platform independence? If it's not not then what's the point of developing Web Apps?

    1. Re:What? by EMN13 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In other shocking news, different platforms requiring different implementations of this rather non-critical feature don't get the feature exactly simultaneously. And here I was hoping they'd have quantum entangled programmers whose coding is either both done or not done.

      This isn't a story.

  4. Meh... by Lumpy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Chrome works better anyways, most guys I know that use linux are using Chrome and it's app store.

    Mozilla has become a also ran lately, they need to get their focus back if they want to get back in the race.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  5. Re:Turnabout is fair play by crazyjj · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I still have a hard time stomaching Chrome. Even looking past the fact that they don't have NoScripts, I'm very reluctant to turn yet another part of my life over to a huge corporation with a checked past when it comes to privacy issues. Mozilla may be largely in Google's pocket too, but at least they maintain some semblance of independence. I trust them a lot more than Google itself.

    --
    What political party do you join when you don't like Bible-thumpers *or* hippies?
  6. So, how do you install an application on "Linux" by Skuto · · Score: 1, Insightful

    So please tell me, how does one generically "install" an application on "Linux"?

    It's silly to complain about Linux not being supported when Linux itself doesn't support the basic concept. It will probably be up to the distribution vendors like Ubuntu to customize this for their own desktop environment.

  7. Re:pathetic by EMN13 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's also a fictional summary designed to grab your attention rather than represent the truth.

  8. Yeah, but this is also an insult by suso · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Linux is the premeire open source desktop. Mozilla is the premiere open source web browser. Many OSS people use both and have supported both. This kinda of decision is a slap in the face to the years of time invested on both sides. Indeed Mozilla has become more like a company than an open source project.

  9. Re:Turnabout is fair play by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Maybe he doesn't need more than 512 or doesn't want it for some reason. Perspective matters a lot. Hell, It reminds me of this this epeen measuring conversation I heard on the bus on campus. "I can't wait to get my new computer." "How much memory did you get?" "Umm... I think 256MB." "256MB!? WTF dude. I mean seriously, what kind is it? A Pentium 3 you dug out of the garbage?" "ARM." "Wha?" "It's a Raspberry Pi." "So cool. I want one of those!"