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Ads Based On Browsing History Are Coming To All Firefox Users

An anonymous reader writes: Mozilla has announced plans to launch a feature called "Suggested Tiles," which will provide sponsored recommendations to visit certain websites when other websites show up in the user's new tab page. The tiles will begin to show up for beta channel users next week, and the company is asking for feedback. For testing purposes, users will only see Suggested Tiles "promoting Firefox for Android, Firefox Marketplace, and other Mozilla causes." It's not yet known what websites will show up on the tiles when the feature launches later this summer. The company says, "With Suggested Tiles, we want to show the world that it is possible to do relevant advertising and content recommendations while still respecting users’ privacy and giving them control over their data."

531 comments

  1. bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    good bye Firefox. last nail in the coffin. I wanted to like it. I did. I still dislike Chrome's UI and the fact Google owns it.

    Crap maybe I'll switch to Opera it's actually really really nice now as a UI.

    1. Re:bye by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      I like Opera for how gracefully it handles Unity, which Chrome seems to have a bitch of a time over. Chrome, for its memory leakage, handles HTML5 active content nicely and Flash... actually I don't know, since I've disabled Flash. Opera for me doesn't do HTML5 or Flash very well, but again Flash isn't an issue since I've disabled it in Opera as well.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    2. Re:bye by paskie · · Score: 3, Interesting

      No vertical tabs 10 years after widescreen displays started spreading widely?

      Also (not so much about UI), if you have many open tabs, chrome eats much less CPU on the background, but is much more memory hungry.

      --
      It's not the fall that kills you. It's the sudden stop at the end. -Douglas Adams
    3. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      As a Firefox Nightly user, I've already had to deal with the spam tiles. The fix is to install a 3rd party speed dial.

      I use Super Start. It's nothing fancy, but it's clean and gets the job done.

    4. Re:bye by paskie · · Score: 2

      Oh and also the fact that middle click inside website does not load URL from clipboard. It works on a favicon - except in case of verified identity SSL servers, there's no favicon.

      About the tabs, frankly, for me (but clearly not just me) a more flexible paradigm which blends seamlessly the concept of tabs and bookmarks (and ideally full-text search over my "bookmarked tabs") would be awesome. I'm a pack-rat and would like to archive whole tab trees for later, see them among the other pages, but not take memory+CPU now. I think there's an actual and large market gap here.

      --
      It's not the fall that kills you. It's the sudden stop at the end. -Douglas Adams
    5. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What I hate about the Chrome UI is that it doesn't conform to my operating system's UI and the fact that Chrome doesn't have a real sidebar, nor any extensions that act as a real sidebar (not a separate window). In addition, I hate the extremely long time for startup and new tab creation, which is accompanied by constant disk grinding.

      Firefox is a lot faster than Chrome, if not in benchmarks, then just for user experience.

    6. Re:bye by ArchieBunker · · Score: 2

      Chrome starts up for me a lot faster than Firefox and runs much smoother. Especially on those stupid forever scrolling pages. Yeah I know code should be efficient with memory but these days there is no excuse for having less than 4Gb. Times change. Plus Chrome uses html5 playback on Youtube and supports the higher framerates (50/60 fps).

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    7. Re:bye by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      Wasn't the fact that Opera when it released a free version, use to have a spot for Opera based adds. Which was one reason why it never really got any serious interests.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    8. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but in this case I have to ask, is there a clandestine effort underway to utterly destroy Firefox, and maybe even Mozilla, from the inside?

      It's like every decision made over the past several years has been designed to alienate Firefox's remaining users, without bringing in any new users.

      I'm talking of the unwanted UI changes. Then there were the release frequency changes that broke extensions every release for a long time. Then there were more unwanted UI changes, cumulating in the despised Australis UI. Then there was the switch to Yahoo for searches. There were the grid advertisements. Then there was the mandatory HTTPS proposal. Now there's this nonsense. All of this is being done when there are still many bugs to fix, some of them existing for years.

      It's just one bad thing after another, even when Firefox users loudly object, and even with Firefox's ever-dropping share of the market.

      I'd like to just blame it on ineptitude or incompetence, but these decisions are unbelievable, even in those cases. I just can't get over how obviously terrible so many of these decisions have been.

    9. Re:bye by jones_supa · · Score: 1

      No vertical tabs 10 years after widescreen displays started spreading widely?

      It's coming. Well, at some point. Bug #51084.

    10. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've never understood comments about memory use. I buy my memory to use. If it is sitting empty, I paid for it for nothing. Apps should use it and use it freely for cache, etc. to speed up performance. I'd feel the same about CPU except that high CPU usage leads to thermal issues (fans on all the time, etc.). So I do prefer not to use all the CPU I paid for - but memory? Heck, the OS will swap it out if another app needs it.

    11. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, well Chrome takes probably 10 times longer to start or create tabs than Firefox does for me. Chrome is slow as shit, even on my high-end laptop with 32GB RAM.

      My guess is that Chrome isn't optimised well for modern PCs and only works on ancient computers. 4GB? Seriously? I had 4GB in my 7 year old laptop.

    12. Re:bye by mrchaotica · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm a pack-rat and would like to archive whole tab trees for later, see them among the other pages, but not take memory+CPU now.

      It's funny how the mobile (Android) versions of both Chrome and Firefox already manage to do this -- I can have 50+ tabs going on my phone and not run out of memory, although some of them will reload when I switch back to them -- but the desktop versions don't.

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    13. Re:bye by paskie · · Score: 2

      I do use the memory, thank you very much. I just use the computer for something else than web browsing too. I do realize it's getting uncommon (and don't actually even get *that* grumpy about it, just have my different set of preferences).

      When you see a guy in sibling comment complaining "In addition, I hate the extremely long time for startup and new tab creation, which is accompanied by constant disk grinding." - well, that's exactly the memory problem, which now translates to bad user experience. As you suggested: The OS swapped it out as another app needed it.

      --
      It's not the fall that kills you. It's the sudden stop at the end. -Douglas Adams
    14. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You have to remember, Mozilla isn't run by people who understand business. They are just a group of mediocre programmers with short attention spans and no experience.

      It's like programmer art. The programmer himself thinks it's pretty good, but any objective viewer will obviously be able to see that it's amateur at best and utter crap at worst.

    15. Re:bye by Jaysyn · · Score: 1

      I wonder if New Tab Tools will ignore this junk?

      --
      There is a war going on for your mind.
    16. Re:bye by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

      Yeah I know code should be efficient with memory but these days there is no excuse for having less than 4Gb.

      Okay, so smartphones, tablets, Chromebooks / "streambooks" and the like aren't valid devices anymore?

      --

      "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

    17. Re:bye by JMJimmy · · Score: 4, Funny

      I've never understood comments about memory use. I buy my memory to use. If it is sitting empty, I paid for it for nothing. Apps should use it and use it freely for cache, etc. to speed up performance. I'd feel the same about CPU except that high CPU usage leads to thermal issues (fans on all the time, etc.). So I do prefer not to use all the CPU I paid for - but memory? Heck, the OS will swap it out if another app needs it.

      Tell that to Win8 when it starts complaining about low 32bit memory and minimizing/terminating your programs.

    18. Re:bye by Translation+Error · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Anyone who's a fan of Opera back when it was still innovative and highly configurable (way back in version 12) might want to keep an eye on Vivaldi, a browser being created by a number of people who left the Opera team after the change in focus. It's based on the Blink engine and the developers are working on incorporating many of the features of Opera 12. It still has a way to go, as it's currently still at the technical preview stage.

      --
      When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
    19. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      a little harsh when all you need to do is change preference in about:config:

      browser.newtab.url to about:blank

      done and done. the whole 'smart' newtab page is gone for good. that is one of the very nice things about firefox....... configurability..

    20. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That is quite funny to read as back in the days Opera got a whole deal of negative comments from Firefox users as it then came in ad supported and paid versions. Even years after Opera dropped the ads and made it entirely free one would often encounter Firefox fanboys arguing that Opera was inferior due to the Ads. Unfortunately Opera no longer is far from being the power-user browser it once used to be, but there is a glimmer of hope with ex-opera CEO Jon Von Tetzchner's new browser Vivaldi. https://vivaldi.com/

    21. Re:bye by knightghost · · Score: 2

      Chrome is multi-threaded. Firefox is not. Firefox runs better on old systems, Chrome runs better on new ones.

      The minute Firefox switched to Yahoo/Micro$haft, it lost me. There's now no real independent browser.

    22. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      FYI, Firefox uses HTML5 playback on YouTube too. I don't even have Flash installed.

    23. Re:bye by dywolf · · Score: 1

      it'll take what, maybe a day?, before there's at least half a dozen addons to fix it.

      --
      The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
    24. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The issue isn't whether or not this can be disabled. The problem is that Mozilla even considered sticking ads in Firefox in the first place, and apparently then went ahead and did it.

    25. Re:bye by kav2k · · Score: 2

      A middle-click on the New Tab button works, assuming a Linux system.

      Otherwise, it's relatively easy to write an extension that does it.

    26. Re:bye by Corporate+Gadfly · · Score: 2, Informative

      No vertical tabs 10 years after widescreen displays started spreading widely?

      Tree Style Tabs

      --
      Corporate Gadfly
      Jonathan Archer: the most beaten up Enterprise captain in Star Trek history
    27. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bullshit. Firefox has had multi-process for quite a while now. Firefox also doesn't secretly install spyware such as "Google Updater" because it has the update mechanism built-in to the browser, as it is supposed to be.

      If Chrome ran better on new hardware than Firefox, then why does Firefox run better on my brand new, high-end PC than Chrome?

    28. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stealth boast.

    29. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This is about chrome, not firefox.

    30. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And you totally ignore the fact that you can disable said tiles entirely, just getting about:blank in every new tab. Which you've -always- been able to do.

      Not the point. I set up my new tabs to be blank because I like it that way. Mozilla shouldn't ignore my preferences during an upgrade. New installs that need configuring is another issue.

      It's like when Mozilla changed the default search to Yahoo!. Even for existing users who already had a preference set, the upgrade ignored that (without any warning, mind you) and changed the default to Yahoo!. "But you can always change it back" came the official reply. I don't care how easy it is to change my preferences back to what they were, the point is that the preferences shouldn't have been changed in the first place.

      New 'features' like this should be opt-in instead of opt-out.

    31. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So that Firefox add-on works in Chrome?

      Perhaps you should learn how to read before you post.

    32. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stealth idiocy.

      Why the fuck would I lie and say that my PC had lower specs than it does when the discussion is directly related to PC specs?

    33. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you have to cut out a major piece of browser functionality to remove the ads. Bravo.

    34. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      There is actually more of an effort to undermine and destroy Mozilla's reputation from the outside, and it's fully transparent. Just look at some of the self-entitled and abusive comments here on Slashdot. We don't care about Mozilla anymore - the honeymoon is over, and now we just want to find every excuse to paint them in a negative light while we sit around offering nothing but empty criticism. Donations? Scoff! They made enough money, even though it's the least of all the major browsers by a long shot, and they use that revenue for far more than just the browser. Mozilla is no more rotten than we are.

    35. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's what happens when you get a large organisation. Remember Google paid them $500 million. For _browser_ development.
      They don't care what users want, because that's completely irrelevant to getting their pet projects done.

    36. Re: bye by nmb3000 · · Score: 1

      I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but in this case I have to ask, is there a clandestine effort underway to utterly destroy Firefox, and maybe even Mozilla, from the inside?

      It's like every decision made over the past several years has been designed to alienate Firefox's remaining users, without bringing in any new users.

      Hanlon's razor says

      Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

      Of course that doesn't mean malice and stupidity can't walk hand-in-hand, and I'm pretty sure that's what's happening at Mozilla. I wouldn't be surprised at all if there were a few bad actors, but there are dozens more that simply suffer from stupidity and lack of foresight. Every "ux expert" and "architect" seems to think they're god's own gift to mankind, and Mozilla is packed to the brim with those. Combine them with some ivory towers and you can pretty easily explain the current sad state of affairs.

      I've loved Firefox since it was Firebird and it kills me to see it painfully dying from this cancer. My only hope is that we'll be left with a fork of some kind that continues from somewhere before it went completely off the rails. All such a fork needs is a little momentum behind it and some pragmatic people at the reins and it could be great.

      --
      "What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
      /)
    37. Re:bye by JMJimmy · · Score: 0

      Tell that to Win8 when it starts complaining ...

      The problem there is that you're using Windows 8. Get a real OS, not one with a toy interface.

      I would but my only laptop has a broken UEFI implementation and won't accept Win7 Pro or Linux installs. Trust me, it was the first thing I tried to do after seeing the mess they created in Win8.

    38. Re: bye by QuietLagoon · · Score: 5, Insightful

      ...Just look at some of the self-entitled and abusive comments here on Slashdot....

      Those comments started out as constructive criticism. However, Mozilla pressed on with their determination to ignore and alienate users.

      .
      Now Mozilla is getting the criticism they have earned.

      Mozilla/Firefox has a problem. A big one. The first step in solving a problem is to identify its cause and not, as you attempt, to blame others for Mozilla's self-inflicted problems.

    39. Re:bye by sirber · · Score: 1

      firefox is still single process. Later version will be multi-process. https://wiki.mozilla.org/Elect...

      --
      Be or ben't
    40. Re:bye by nmb3000 · · Score: 1

      Chrome starts up for me a lot faster than Firefox and runs much smoother.

      That's funny, because it's the opposite for me. Chrome starts slow, and feels so clunky. Every now and then it pauses for several seconds, and if I minimize the window it takes 5-10 seconds before it's responsive again (I assume the 20-processes of memory are paged out or something).

      Plus Chrome uses html5 playback on Youtube

      Firefox does too, by default now, but I don't see why everyone fawns over HTML5 video. It's just a damned webm/H.264 video stream, and we had <embed>'d videos way back when.

      --
      "What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
      /)
    41. Re:bye by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

      ...that is one of the very nice things about firefox....... configurability.....

      Configurability is slowly being removed. Remember how configurable the UI used to be before the Australis disaster hit?

    42. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it's based on Blink, then why not just use original Opera?

    43. Re:bye by Gort65 · · Score: 2

      So you have to cut out a major piece of browser functionality to remove the ads. Bravo.

      Hardly major. In fact, I personally find the silly boxes a hindrance rather than a help. Still, yeah, for others it might be beneficial to have your most visited sites there for you in pictorial form on a new tab, but I'd hardly call it major functionality.

    44. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tell that to Win8 when it starts complaining about low 32bit memory and minimizing/terminating your programs.

      Err, what?
      Win8 automatically terminates processes when low on memory?!
      So what's the point of paging in that case?!

      I'ev got Win8.1, seems to work fine, especially after Classic Shell and 7+ Taskbar Tweaker and MouseWiz.

    45. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then why can I enable e10s on my Firefox?

    46. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The minute Firefox switched to Yahoo/Micro$haft, it lost me. There's now no real independent browser.

      Dude, what crap are you talking about?
      It's far better to switch to the lesser of the evil - i.e. they switched away from Google spyware!
      Secondly, you have CHOICE to switch to alternative search like DuckDuckGo.

    47. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What about IE? It's still the most used browser in the world and it's not even a major product for Microsoft.

    48. Re:bye by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 4, Insightful

      my 'fix' has been to stop upgrading, about 2 or even more years ago.

      yes, it has bugs and probably security issues, but I deal with that instead of dealing with more bullshit from moz.

      really - a web browser is a little bit like a flashlight; it has a job to do, its clearly defined and its not hard to solve the problem. I don't need a flashlight with 'accessories' on it or with 'helpful advertising'. I simply need it to work, stay stable and not change every damned time someone has an itch to change-just-for-changes-sake.

      I won't give up what I have, but I have stopped upgrading a long time ago.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    49. Re:bye by trabby · · Score: 2

      Go and get some Pale Moon.

      http://www.palemoon.org/

      Classic Firefox UI, developer ignores moronic Mozilla decisions, has 64-bit Windows version out of the box.

    50. Re:bye by mlts · · Score: 1

      If it is sitting empty on Windows 8.1, it is being used for read/write cache by the OS. Same with Linux.

      With RAM as relatively inexpensive as it is today, one shouldn't have less than 16-32 GB of RAM on a desktop, especially if one is using virtualization, sandboxing, or other type of container usage to keep their Web browser separate from their sensitive stuff [1].

      [1]: In fact, it doesn't hurt to keep different things in separate VMs, and with SSD and a decent amount of RAM, the performance loss is negligable, while one gains a lot in security. Plus, it is easy to move to new hardware... just copy the VM's images to the new machine.

    51. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Use Firefox Nightly. Enable Electrolysis. Try it out for the minute or two that it takes to realize how badly it works. Then just go back to using Chrome.

    52. Re:bye by JMJimmy · · Score: 2

      Tell that to Win8 when it starts complaining about low 32bit memory and minimizing/terminating your programs.

      Err, what?
      Win8 automatically terminates processes when low on memory?!
      So what's the point of paging in that case?!

      I'ev got Win8.1, seems to work fine, especially after Classic Shell and 7+ Taskbar Tweaker and MouseWiz.

      Yup. Easiest way to trigger the "feature" is to run a 32-bit browser + a 32-bit game that will fill the 2GB limit. At first it will warn you, taking your full screen game and minimizing it to tell you to close a specific program (oddly never the game itself). If you close that warning it'll repeat this process a few times and on the odd occasion, after a few warnings, it will simply say [We have terminated X program due to low memory]

    53. Re: bye by jez9999 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Every "ux expert" and "architect" seems to think they're god's own gift to mankind, and Mozilla is packed to the brim with those.

      The main problem is that Mozilla is filled with project managers and senior devs who LISTEN to the UX 'experts' and let them drive the agenda. Why they do is beyond me. Perhaps it is a plot by Google or perhaps they are just morons.

    54. Re:bye by Runaway1956 · · Score: 2

      The memory is there to be used - you're entirely correct. I cannot fault you for that. But, when the system has 4 gig of memory, and Firefox is using 60% of that memory - IT IS SIMPLY TO MUCH!

      I recently installed Pale Moon. I've not yet seen Pale Moon using 25% of system memory. I have a lot of tabs open right now, and Palemoon is using 17% of system memory. Enlightenment and Palemoon are constantly swapping places for top memory usage position in htop. The only other process that competes, is lightdm . This means that I can fire up a lot more applications, or I can actually do some compiling while the browser runs.

      Yeah, I have memory, but it's MINE to decide how to use, not Mozilla's.

      And, yes, this IS part of the reason I switched to Pale Moon. The subject of TFS and TFA are another reason. And - I'm also an adventurous type. I'll run any browser that comes along - if it behaves as I wish it to.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    55. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Those of us who were around to watch Netscape implode have seen this before. This is what happens when people let marketing guide the corporate trajectory.

    56. Re:bye by Bonzoli · · Score: 1

      This is about revenue, Google was the primary source, now its a primary competitor. They still need cash to keep the lights on and pay people to work. Unless someone else figures out a funding method, they will keep searching for one that keeps them fed.

    57. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Read the bottom of the comment.

      This is stupidity that's so stupid that people start to wonder if it isn't actually manufactured stupidity.

    58. Re:bye by Khyber · · Score: 0

      Quit trying to use a shitty crack. You do know EFI doesn't really handle OEM versions of Windows. You need the Win 7 ISO directly from Technet or a retail copy.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    59. Re:bye by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      Mmmm. Vivaldi on Linux doesn't seem to work real well. Additionally, creating an account and logging in to the vivaldi website simply doesn't work for me.

      Something's wrong here, if the next great browser is incapable of designing a working website.

      But - since you reminded me that it's on my machine, maybe I'll fire it up again today to see if anything has changed . . .

      Nope - first attempt to login gives me a message "Session expired, please log in again." Second attempt says username and password don't match.

      Ehhhh . . .

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    60. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "But you can always change it back" came the official reply [twitter.com].

      More to the point, "but you can change it back" was the excuse for Tabs on Top. Then, the tickbox for tabs on bottom went away. Then, the about:config preference for it went away.

      "But you can change it back" was the excuse for when the status bar went away. Then, as of 4.0, you couldn't change it back at all. Someone had to write an extension to undo the UX team's fuckup.

      "But you can change it back" was the excuse for Javashit enabled by default. Then, the tickbox in the UI to enable/disable Javashit went away. How long until some UXtard decides Javashit should no longer be disablable even from within about:config?

      "But you don't have to install it" was the excuse for DRM/EME. Any takers on how long that remains true?

      "But you can change it back" is the thin edge of the wedge; it's how a UXtard tells the userbase that however much you loathe his "elegant" "innovation", someday you won't be able to change it back, because his UX vision is more important than your - the actual user's - experience.

      Fuck Asa Dotzler and fuck all his clones.

    61. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately Vivaldi is like ReactOs. A project that will never end up in a meaningful state. And I say this as a disgruntled Opera user that still clings desperately to Opera 12 (with ghostery, adblock and noscript extensions) on the desktop and on Android. And for the few cases where it's not possible then I use Sea Monkey. But none, none of the modern browers come close to the jewel that was Opera 12 in terms of features and configurability. The development of all browsers has taken such a step backwards, it's as if everyone decided to make the browser into a tv. Of course Microsoft and Google are onboard this program, but hundreds of milions of $ greases The Mozilla Foundation just as easily.

    62. Re:bye by Runaway1956 · · Score: 2

      I suspect that a lot of people THINK in pictorial form. When I want to go to slashdot.org, I type slashdot.org. Yeah, the browser autocompletes for me, but I continue typing the address in. I've been doing it that way since before there was a Firefox, it's a habit that I see no need, or even a desire to break.

      Wonder how many slashdotters couldn't find slashdot without a shortcut? The idea is hilarious, IMHO.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    63. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've been using Windows 8/8.1 since release and have never seen an error message like that. It's more likely a virus or hardware problem with your computer.

    64. Re:bye by intnsred · · Score: 1

      I agree wholeheartedly. Sadly, the handwriting for this has been on the wall for some time. I can only hope Debian's Iceweasel port of Firefox does not adopt this "feature".

      This makes me start to wonder if there is a reduced capability browser -- something leaner and meaner, focused militantly on privacy and even going so far as to deliberately not support portions of HTML5 (e.g. DRM).

      Coders of the world, here's a niche you could fill...

    65. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why? What is the point of multi-process when Firefox doesn't crash? Maybe Chrome crashes so much that it's important there, but that's not a problem with Firefox.

    66. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It still is, it just needs extensions now. I have a bunch of extensions to get back the Firefox 3.x look and feel, and it's great.

    67. Re:bye by 3.5+stripes · · Score: 1

      LOL, downloaded the 64 bit version, slashdot gives me a 500 error (posting this from my chrome window)..

      --


      He tried to kill me with a forklift!
    68. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks for your opinion, shill.

    69. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, ok, thanks for the warning.
      I never came across this either - I use Firefox (32-bit) on 64-bit Win8.1 install, but I guess I quit firefox before the 2gig limit because of the massive slow-down and lag in the UI which follows.

    70. Re:bye by trabby · · Score: 1

      I have seen Pale Moon leak to 6GB before.

      The general program stability has improved quite a bit though in the last couple of years.

    71. Re:bye by JMJimmy · · Score: 1

      Quit trying to use a shitty crack. You do know EFI doesn't really handle OEM versions of Windows. You need the Win 7 ISO directly from Technet or a retail copy.

      I used *my* retail disc copy. I used a corporate copy. I used various ISOs including one from Microsoft. I used three different flavours of Linux. All started to install and failed part way through. Trust me, I *hate* Windows 8, I'd ditch it in a heartbeat if I could.

      My next machine I will.

    72. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ever since Opera invented speed dial years and years ago, it has become an indispensable part of the browsing experience. So much so that the other browser makers copied it. You might not use it, but it is a major feature that most users want.

    73. Re:bye by Wintermute__ · · Score: 1

      I agree wholeheartedly. Sadly, the handwriting for this has been on the wall for some time. I can only hope Debian's Iceweasel port of Firefox does not adopt this "feature".

      This makes me start to wonder if there is a reduced capability browser -- something leaner and meaner, focused militantly on privacy and even going so far as to deliberately not support portions of HTML5 (e.g. DRM).

      Coders of the world, here's a niche you could fill...

      Ironically, that is exactly how Firefox started in the first place. As a smaller, faster, reduced capability version of Mozilla. And the cycle begins again...

    74. Re:bye by mujadaddy · · Score: 2

      Major? Jesus Christ.

      --
      Populus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur...
      "Force shits upon Reason's back." - Poor Richard's Almanac
    75. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not just visual association, speed dial tiles can show you the actual contents of the page before you visit, thus saving time if it hasn't been updated.

    76. Re:bye by pmontra · · Score: 1

      Not on my Firefox 38 on Ubuntu. I copied the URL of this page, mid clicked on the new tab button and got an empty tab. I checked the preferences and I didn't find anything relevant (but I noticed that they are web pages now, not a dialog anymore - big surprise!). Maybe it's browser.newtablurl set to about:blank in about:config? No, it isn't that one because I don't get that behaviour with the default value too.

    77. Re:bye by JMJimmy · · Score: 3

      I've been using Windows 8/8.1 since release and have never seen an error message like that. It's more likely a virus or hardware problem with your computer.

      Well, if YOU haven't seen it... [facepalm]

      https://answers.microsoft.com/...

    78. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um... what?

    79. Re:bye by sexconker · · Score: 1

      No, the fix is to kill the shitty "show some tiles of sites you visit" tab page and use about:blank.

    80. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That money may have been what killed Mozilla. Google didn't give them funding, they gave them rope to hang themselves.

    81. Re:bye by Khyber · · Score: 1

      Go into UEFI, and disable it, putting it into legacy BIOS mode.

      It will install after that. Then you may turn UEFI back on.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    82. Re:bye by pmontra · · Score: 1

      I had that kind of problem until February 2014 (old Core Duo with 4 GB RAM) then I bought a new laptop with 16 GB upgradeable to 32 GB. No swap space configured. I keep leaving all sort of applications open (4 virtual desktops) and sometimes I got down to 3 GB free and started thinking about the extra 16 GB. Well, not until I'll really have to work with some VMs open all the time.
      4 GB are not necessarily too little nowadays, but one should expect to be careful with the programs he runs. Like Android phones with half a GB of RAM.

    83. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What are these pictures you are talking about?

    84. Re:bye by byuu · · Score: 2

      You and me both. I'm stuck on FF28, which is the last version with a sane UI.

      Due to security concerns, I'm probably going to have to start doing all my web browsing inside of a VM soon.

      Really wish Opera were open source. Vivaldi looks like even more of a trainwreck UI-wise.

    85. Re:bye by pmontra · · Score: 1

      Multi process, not multi threaded unless you refer to the two threads inside each process https://www.chromium.org/devel... (2011) but if that's the case then Firefox is multi threaded too, just single process https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/s... (2007)

    86. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hardly major. In fact, I personally find the silly boxes a hindrance rather than a help.

      I agree. I've always set both the home page and new tab page to about:blank. I don't want software that interrupts my train of thought with suggestions about what I might be about to do. It's offputting. If I want it to do something, I'll tell it to do something. I don't want it to ask me on the offchance. I'm too easily influenced and distracted by the suggestions, when I'd rather make my own mind up. It's almost as bad as having to look at ads, even when it doesn't have ads!

      (I've a similar complaint about the way Microsoft Office now defaults to making you choose a document template when you start it up. It's just not a relevant decision to make when first starting the program, 99% of the time, and just gets in the way. Thankfully you can turn that behaviour off.)

    87. Re: bye by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

      Are you running mathlab or huge spreadsheets for data analytics? If you are then why not just run 128gb and be done with it, if you're not then you're probably not using as much RAM as you think :)

      --
      Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    88. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would I turn a useful feature into a worthless one by doing that?

    89. Re:bye by byuu · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Which about:config value can I tweak to turn off Australis and have normal navigation+refresh+home buttons, and tabs under the URL bar? Which one will let me turn off download history (without killing my browser history as well)? Which one will let me show the compact one-line URL bar dropdown results? Which one will let me install unsigned extensions again? Which one will let me use HTTP/2 without TLS, as the RFC defines?

    90. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep, major. The year is 2015 and speed dials have been major features for a long time.

      Go back to 2007 where you belong, religious nutjob.

    91. Re:bye by byuu · · Score: 2

      Google just removed 200 extensions that turned out to be malicious and would steal login credentials, inject ads and other such fun things.

      I don't want to have to install a dozen third-party extensions from people I don't know or trust with handles like XxFoX69eRxX to get functionality back which I already had.

    92. Re:bye by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      LOL @ the phones and tablets with half gig of ram. The wife decided she wanted a tablet. She wanted no input from me, she was going to do this all on her own. When it finally arrived, she was enthralled with it for a week or so. Install a couple "apps" and her memory was gone, and she's caching to disk, waiting MINUTES for a page to load.

      When she bought a desktop, she handled that very much the same way. She sent me several links, and asked me to pick the best. I sent back the "best" link, and bluntly told her that if she didn't get AT LEAST 8 GB of memory, she was wasting her time. Argue, fuss, complain that I'm just trying to spend her money, blah, blah, blah - until I reminded her how much money she wasted on her tablet.

      So, yeah, I'm with you on the memory - I need to upgrade. A second or third generation dual core Opteron at 1.8 Ghz and 4 gig of ram is ancient history these days.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    93. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...my only laptop... won't accept Win7 Pro or Linux installs.

      Quit trying to use a shitty crack.

      So... where can I get this shitty crack? I would buy a retail copy, but Ubuntu is sooo expensive.

    94. Re:bye by Krojack · · Score: 1

      What, Google owns Chromium? This is news to me.

    95. Re:bye by Gort65 · · Score: 1

      Ever since Opera invented speed dial years and years ago, it has become an indispensable part of the browsing experience. So much so that the other browser makers copied it. You might not use it, but it is a major feature that most users want.

      I can see it being something that helps others and that they could well want, but then there are many minor things that help others and that they may also want, but aren't major if not there. I have no problem with the inclusion of tiles in Firefox (not adverts, though), but I'd hardly see it as a major issue if they were removed. Such things like the URL bar is major functionality; tab tiles is additional functionality. Suggesting that tab tiles is major functionality is verging on hyperbole.

    96. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://midori-browser.org

    97. Re:bye by JMJimmy · · Score: 1

      Go into UEFI, and disable it, putting it into legacy BIOS mode.

      It will install after that. Then you may turn UEFI back on.

      No, it won't. It might on your system and on most other systems but something about the Acer VA70 is screwed up and causes it to choke on the install (AFTER disabling UEFI)

    98. Re:bye by biojayc · · Score: 1

      Archive large sets of tabs without them taking up memory for later use? It's called bookmarks.

      In chrome on desktop, you can ctrl+click a bunch of tabs to multiselect, and then pull them into their own window. Now ctrl+shift+D on that window to bookmark them all. Then you can just close the window.

    99. Re:bye by kav2k · · Score: 1

      I thought the whole point was Chrome UI, not Firefox..

    100. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree wholeheartedly. Sadly, the handwriting for this has been on the wall for some time. I can only hope Debian's Iceweasel port of Firefox does not adopt this "feature".

      Don't count on Debian. They went the Mozilla route by incorporating systemd. Don't be surprised if systemd becomes a mandatory requirement for Iceweasel.

    101. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I still dislike Chrome's . . . fact Google owns it.

      step 1 block ads on the web
      step 2 put ads into the browser
      step 3 profit

      Google, an ad company, doesn't use their control of a browser to move Chrome users' ad slots from web sites to browsers. If they did, they'd get both a bigger share of the ad market, and a bigger share of the payout from each ad since none would be shared with a publisher. Yet GOOG doesn't do it.

      Gee, I wonder if that shift could be cheating someone, or bad for the Internet in the long run? "Ah, whatever," says Mozilla. "Let's test it on users. If users don't mind it must by definition be fine."

      Google, an ad company, logs users' browsing history with Chrome and uploads it to the cloud. Yet they let users encrypt the history end-to-end so that it can't be used for ad targeting. While ad networks do "behavioural tracking" (web history through cookies), you can clear your cookies without giving up your browsing history because Google doesn't use their control of a browser to hijack a stream of information about you and sabotage your browsers' features if you try to withhold it.

      Gee, I wonder if the adversarial relationship between browser and Internet might be a key to the Internet's freedom, one that Google manages to respect and value even though they have interests on both sides of the adversarial divide? But, what company could take such a long view. If not Mozilla, then surely not Google, because I don't "trust" them.

    102. Re: bye by paskie · · Score: 1

      I'm running java-based UIMA pipelines with large NLP models loaded in memory, plus some pandas datasets loaded in ipynotebooks occassionally.

      I don't run 128gb because that's tricky to stuff in a laptop and I have better uses for my money at this point than buying overpriced SO-DIMMs too.

      --
      It's not the fall that kills you. It's the sudden stop at the end. -Douglas Adams
    103. Re:bye by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      Have you checked your system time?

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    104. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think browsers do need some kind of tab-suspending because web sites are so cpu wasteful, but there is an ugly reason Android forced that compromise early. Please check, how many tabs can you open on a 2GByte Android vs a 2GByte ChromeBook? Funny that the answer manages to be so different.

    105. Re:bye by I'm+New+Around+Here · · Score: 1

      That's why I use Speed Dial addon. I get to choose which sites are shown, and their placement.

      First row: Google, Google Image, Google Maps, Google Translate (for all we hate Google, they are useful as hell)
      Second: three sites that outsource jobs to me, then Yahoo
      Third row: my bank, customer portal, Ebay, webmail portal

      Why would any serious user let the browser pick the sites shown on a new tab?

      --
      If you think I voted for Trump because of this post, you're wrong. I voted for Dr. Jill Stein of the Green Party. Again.
    106. Re:bye by oneeyed2 · · Score: 0

      Obviously because the new (15 and later) Opera isn't comparable to the older one. It's not the engine that matters but what the developers do with it. Presto Opera had a lot of built-in features (vertical tabs, resource blocker, configuration of the UI via drag&drop, notes, etc...) that can only be found via unsatisfying extensions that often break with updates in other major browsers.

    107. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or click the big (approx. 20x20 px) gear in the top-right of the new tab page and then click "blank tab" in the dropdown. Or, if you like tiles but don't want "ad" tiles, uncheck "show suggested sites."

    108. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Am I the only one with a bookmark bar? Middle click a bookmark, new tab opens with the URL.

      Why is this idiotic and inane speed dial needed again?

    109. Re:bye by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

      Maybe its time to reconsider Chrome? It does what Firefox does, but without the added band width of grinning show offs. Then again, maybe one could start a browser project and place it on something like GitHub? That way one could fork off to create what ever they desired for their browsing experience?

    110. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here! Here!

    111. Re:bye by AC5398 · · Score: 1

      Not updating Firefox ever again. Any recommendations for other browsers?

    112. Re:bye by pmontra · · Score: 1

      Sorry, I must have seen Firefox in the top post of the thread and misunderstood the point.

    113. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thoughtless copying of competitors's features is the hallmark of Firefox design.

    114. Re: bye by CrashNBrn · · Score: 2
      Maybe, but in almost every single browser topic here on /. there will be at least one thread going off about shitty Australis --- Which really puts into question the rest of their complaints. The Firefox Australis UI may look different than the previous traditional FF UI... but so what?! If you don't like it, its little more than some standard CSS to adjust the UI however the hell you want.
      Almost every single FF bitch about changes is little more than bullshit --- I have yet to see a FF change that can't be reverted with either CSS or an extension.

      If there really was some agenda to "destroy" Firefox, they certainly wouldn't leave in the ability to undo/revert these so-called horrible changes.

      NOTE:
      I use FF primarily, and Opera Dev (Oink). Prior to 2012 (1999-2012) I used Opera (versions 5-12) 99%+ of the time.

      The FireFox "+ Customize" along with UserJS and UserCSS gives you most of the freedom that Opera users used to have with regards to control over the UI.

      I know I'm thankful Firefox is still around, and I wouldn't of been caught dead using it back in Opera's heyday.


      To me the biggest slap in the face in regards to "Chrome/Blink" --- you aren't even allowed to reorganize extension icons on the "address bar". You cannot/are not allowed to move extension icons to any other place in the interface. Chrome's UI is so locked down as to make a comparison between a blink-based browser and gecko-based browser almost impossible as far as the UI is concerned.

    115. Re:bye by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 1

      I agree wholeheartedly. Sadly, the handwriting for this has been on the wall for some time. I can only hope Debian's Iceweasel port of Firefox does not adopt this "feature".

      This makes me start to wonder if there is a reduced capability browser -- something leaner and meaner, focused militantly on privacy and even going so far as to deliberately not support portions of HTML5 (e.g. DRM).

      Coders of the world, here's a niche you could fill...

      I have been considering going the other way entirely and switching to sea-monkey as I already use both firefox and thunderbird but both have been being shit upon by mozzila devs but from what i have seen seamonkey seems to get less abuse and lets me continue to use my addons.

      --
      ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
    116. Re:bye by Adriax · · Score: 1

      Ms. Manners Guide to Civilized Computing?

      "One should always keep a clean and tidy desktop so as not to offend the sensibilities of one's guests. Remember Sir Cupertino's rules for icon placement: editors on the left, utilities on the right, and games tucked away in a neat folder to the right of the desktop center to provide easy access without drawing too much attention. Unless, of course, LAN Party rules have been invoked. At which point the editors must be placed out of view and the games spread out in colorful yet tasteful folders sorted by genre.

      If one finds one's self visiting another's desktop then one should to bring a gift for one's host. A vintage RTS of a good year is thrifty but always welcome.
      Endeavor to avoid cookies or reading materials of the fanfictional variety."

      --
      I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
    117. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      forgot the break after the comma

    118. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, that changes the UI of your start page. The browser will still download the extra tile info and there's likely a lot of extra processing behind the scenes that isn't disabled.

      But even so, it's more than that. Changes to Firefox have shown time and time again that they don't respect their users. This feature exists purely to make more money for them. Soon they'll start charging companies to be listed as recommended sites (if you don't believe me, read the bug report and look at their recommendations for people who visit TurboTax). If I'm constantly viewing a site it's because I like it and its useful to me. I don't want to see Apple tiles if I buy Lenovo nor Google Maps tiles when I use Mapquest (now that Google Maps sucks). Features like this help kill the internet by telling people to only view these top sites instead of letting people discover all the super useful, but niche sites.

    119. Re:bye by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I have. Not terribly recently, but - - - well, lemme check it right now.

      guy# timedatectl
                  Local time: Fri 2015-05-22 12:44:05 CDT
          Universal time: Fri 2015-05-22 17:44:05 UTC
                      RTC time: Fri 2015-05-22 12:44:05
                    Time zone: America/Chicago (CDT, -0500)
                NTP enabled: yes
      NTP synchronized: yes
        RTC in local TZ: yes
                  DST active: yes
        Last DST change: DST began at
                                          Sun 2015-03-08 01:59:59 CST
                                          Sun 2015-03-08 03:00:00 CDT
        Next DST change: DST ends (the clock jumps one hour backwards) at
                                          Sun 2015-11-01 01:59:59 CDT
                                          Sun 2015-11-01 01:00:00 CST

      Warning: The RTC is configured to maintain time in the local time zone. This
                        mode is not fully supported and will create various problems with time
                        zone changes and daylight saving time adjustments. If at all possible, use
                        RTC in UTC by calling 'timedatectl set-local-rtc 0'.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    120. Re:bye by Chelloveck · · Score: 1

      No vertical tabs 10 years after widescreen displays started spreading widely?

      Yeah, Tree Style Tabs is the killer feature that's keeping me with Firefox. There are a couple of Chrome extensions that kinda-sorta-not-quite do the same thing, but nothing that just moves the damn tabs to the side so I can have a dozen open and still read them. I'm probably stuck with FF until Chrome has a suitable substitute or FF breaks it entirely.

      --
      Chelloveck
      I give up on debugging. From now on, SIGSEGV is a feature.
    121. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is it with the UI being the sole or otherwise crux of every complaint any time Firefox gets brought up on this site? If you can't adapt, the problem is with you. It's not like they are stealthily REMOVING features a-la YouTube and its personal office competition to out-shit themselves every new update that comes around the corner.

      Unless they remove the plugin support or some other equally vital function, then you can start complaining, but bitching about the UI is pointless and does nothing for the argument.

      As for these "suggested tiles," it will be removed by plugin in due time.

    122. Re: bye by sirber · · Score: 1

      It's not about crashing, it's about speed. Currently firefox can only use 1 core of your multi-core cpu. If one webpage is heavy, the whole browser is slow. Doesn't happen with chrome since it can use all the cores of your cpu. here's some infos: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      --
      Be or ben't
    123. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Psst... hey, check this out...

    124. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which about:config value can I tweak to turn off Australis and have normal navigation+refresh+home buttons, and tabs under the URL bar?

      This one?

    125. Re: bye by caseih · · Score: 1

      Palemoon is potentially such a fork. Meets my needs. Perhaps it will meet yours too.

    126. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ok, then I guess you'd be OK with dumping tabs and going back to multiple browser windows then, eh?

      Features become major when they have enough people who use them. Speed dial is no different than tabs once were.

    127. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have bookmarks too, but speed dial is for your most used sites. That way when you hit ctrl-t, it's right in front of you instead of having to poke around in a huge list of bookmarks.

      It's like the recently used programs feature of the Windows start menu or having icons on your taskbar for launching programs. You don't put everything you use on there, just the most used.

    128. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >they use that revenue for far more than just the browser.

      Maybe they shouldn't? No one fucking cares about thunderbird, songbird, firefox os (hah!) or any of their other, shitty, projects. People want a browser and they don't give a shit about a devs pet project. Firefox grew out of an all volunteer group. It did fine (better than fine even) with only donations. If they have to fire 95% of the staff, then good. Maybe they'll stop fucking up shit just to have something to release for version # 12378156237561278356.

    129. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go with Pale Moon, a much better tweaked firefox clone with extra security features

    130. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They, like the other ad tiles before them, can be entirely disabled. Stop being such a drama queen.

    131. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well if it happens to YOU....

      The only thing I noticed about that link is that you are the only one whining about this. Nobody else has problems.

    132. Re:bye by CaTfiSh · · Score: 2

      Why not use Palemoon?

    133. Re:bye by Gort65 · · Score: 1

      Again, you're in hyperbole mode. Your idea about what constitutes major is a bit wide of the mark.

    134. Re:bye by Blue+Stone · · Score: 3, Informative

      Also on the top right of a new tab is a settings 'cog' where you can choose "Enhanced", "Classic" or "Blank" so you can easily turn this off.

      The details are fairly straightforward and are laid out on this page.

      Some choice exerpts to soothe the paniced minds:

      Easy to control

      Tiles are easily pinned, moved around or removed using simple drag-and-drop and close interfaces. If you do not want to see any Tiles, you can deactivate them completely in two clicks through the new tab gear control.
      Respects your privacy

      What data is being collected?

      Mozilla collects Tiles related data such as number of clicks, impressions and Tile specific data (e.g. position and size of grid) to help Mozilla determine how frequently the Tile has been seen or interacted with, as well as your IP address (collected by Firefox, quickly translated into a region code and then deleted).
      What data is collected when I opt out?

      No data is collected when a user deactivates the Enhanced Tiles experience.

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    135. Re:bye by Blue+Stone · · Score: 1

      Or just click the cog and choose 'classic' to have tiles without participating in the 'enhanced' version they're talking about (or 'blank' for nothing)!

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    136. Re:bye by lgw · · Score: 1

      Does it work in Pale Moon? (Pale Moon is FF without the Mozilla Crazy.)

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    137. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Re:bye (Score:4, Informative)

      The mods need to read too! (smh)

    138. Re:bye by Lord+Apathy · · Score: 1

      bought a new laptop with 16 GB upgradeable to 32 GB. No swap space configured.

      This is something I don't understand why you would want to do this? Even with 16 or 32 GB of RAM. Diskspace is cheap too and the system won't use it unless it needs it. I would rather keep the swap on and have it there to use if needed. When it comes to swap its better to have and not need, than to need and not have.

      --

      Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification

    139. Re: bye by Kjella · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't think you have to come up with that many conspiracy theories, Mozilla's "problem" is that they won. They broke Microsoft's monopoly, made HTML/CSS properly standardized and together with KHTML/WebKit/Blink some 80% use an open source renderer though many use it in a closed source binary. Microsoft would be laughed at if they tried any new proprietary extensions and for the rest the implementation details are all in the open.

      I'm talking of the unwanted UI changes. Then there were the release frequency changes that broke extensions every release for a long time. Then there were more unwanted UI changes, cumulating in the despised Australis UI. Then there was the switch to Yahoo for searches. There were the grid advertisements. Then there was the mandatory HTTPS proposal. Now there's this nonsense. All of this is being done when there are still many bugs to fix, some of them existing for years.

      Their problem can be summed up in two words: "Now what?" and it turns out they didn't really have any other goal in common than slaying the dragon and now the dragon's dead. Some UX designers get to make an art project. Some cowboy coders thinks more releases is better. Some will do anything to get away from the reliance on their biggest competitor. Some security nuts get to go overboard. Some want to go after Android/Chrome OS with Firefox OS, but this time they're not competing against proprietary and neglected shovelware and barking up a tree Ubuntu has made essentially no progress on.

      Let's face it, Mozilla mainly won because Microsoft was trying to keep the web from competing with local applications so they could sell Windows licenses, they got to the head of the pack and grinded it to a halt. They didn't want to compete, they wanted to put a spanner in the works for as long as possible. It annoyed many and gave Firefox enormous amounts of goodwill even when it didn't work properly, out of spite for Microsoft people kept using it and pushing for sites to support it. They don't have a clue on how to compete with someone that puts up a fight, which is their second biggest problem.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    140. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's nothing to do with Pale Moon, Slashdot's servers are giving a lot of errors lately.

    141. Re: bye by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      If I was one of their competitors and I realised that, it could be a source of endless amusement. Like getting a younger sibling or slightly simple[1] classmate to do dumb shit. We've al done that, right?

      [1] As we used to say, back in the day. It's not allowed now, because of the Belgians.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    142. Re:bye by anchor_tag · · Score: 1

      Seamonkey is my browser of choice. It gets said a lot but it's like older FF but with less headaches and a modern rendering engine.

    143. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...that is one of the very nice things about firefox....... configurability.....

      Configurability is slowly being removed. Remember how configurable the UI used to be before the Australis disaster hit?

      If you dislike the change, it's not like you were left high and dry: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/classicthemerestorer/. It's got more options than you can shake a stick at. However they could have released a version before the huge change to allow people to opt in to something that would auto-install that add-on when they updated as well as also detect if any add-ons used the add-on bar they removed and install an add-on that puts it back on the same update. (Some add-ons don't allow themselves to be located anywhere else, which is not Mozilla's fault.)

    144. Re: bye by marcello_dl · · Score: 1

      For people who don't understand what they are doing, they still are making a notable streak of disasters, with an odd distribution.
      The average moron gets things right by accident sometimes.

      --
      ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
    145. Re:bye by jopsen · · Score: 1

      As a Firefox Nightly user, I've already had to deal with the spam tiles. The fix is to install a 3rd party speed dial.

      Or use the button to disable shaped like a "gear" to disable it...(oh, it's that simple)

      I'm nightly user too, and haven't seen any of these tiles yet.

    146. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, the fix is to disallow history via about:config.

      I disable dom, css vistied, http/s referrer, and media peerconnect as well as others. In addition, I block all ads, use Disconnect and block other stuff via DNS. I have a right to not be tracked and I exercise that right. I also fudge my user agent string as well as other stuff. I may look like an anomoly, and this may, indeed, make me stick out, but that's OK. I use a proxy server as well and to all the world I'm some nerd in the Netherlands.

    147. Re: bye by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      If you don't like it, its little more than some standard CSS to adjust the UI however the hell you want

      If I don't like it, I can write my own browser. Get real.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    148. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Indeed. One can also configure keyboard shortcuts like OS X and Safari, which I use on my work Mac. I dislike graphical tiles and other crap. If I could see actual jpg and pngs in a text browser, I would do it in a heartbeat. I really like uzbl, but it's not there yet.

    149. Re:bye by Mashiki · · Score: 2

      I'm not a real fan of Chrome especially in terms of the tracking crap, chromium on the other hand I do like but it's never out of a non-stable release state. But I guess I can live with that. So I guess it's good bye Firefox, and off to hunt more browsers maybe check out palemoons stability now, since I had some serious problems with it a few years ago, check out other browsers like Opera maybe even IE.

      Shit like the 'force ads' is the death knell for FF though. $20 says that there will be no ad checking, and it'll become a massive vector for malware to boot.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    150. Re:bye by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      Funny that in what you link to it turns out to be a problem with Intels video drivers, but hey...

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    151. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously? It's like 12 years old. Look it the fuck up.

    152. Re:bye by JMJimmy · · Score: 1

      Funny that in what you link to it turns out to be a problem with Intels video drivers, but hey...

      That was *a* problem, that was fixed but the low memory warnings persists (just had it happen last week, 4 Intel driver updates later)

    153. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have to remember, Mozilla isn't run by people who understand business. They are just a group of mediocre programmers with short attention spans and no experience.

      It's like programmer art. The programmer himself thinks it's pretty good, but any objective viewer will obviously be able to see that it's amateur at best and utter crap at worst.

      How did this discussion suddenly come to be about modern versions of KDE?

    154. Re:bye by VGPowerlord · · Score: 1

      Maybe its time to reconsider Chrome? It does what Firefox does, but without the added band width of grinning show offs.

      Did you miss the whole plugin debacle going on with Chrome?

      You know, the "you need to rewrite your plugin using one of our APIs" thing?

      Don't even get me started about NaCl and the brillant idea to allow any C/C++ system calls except a few that are blacklisted. Because what could possibly go wrong with that idea?

      --
      GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
    155. Re: bye by marcosdumay · · Score: 1

      If you remember a bit less than a decade ago, the consensus was that every open source software should get UX experts to review them, and designers to help create their appearance.

      That was also the time Mozilla started to get some real money, and went out to hire a team, so it's not surprising that they have a lot of UX experts and designers. And when you have a team of experts giving you advice, why wouldn't you listen to it? Did you make a mistake by hiring them at first?

    156. Re:bye by labnet · · Score: 1

      No vertical tabs 10 years after widescreen displays started spreading widely?

      Also (not so much about UI), if you have many open tabs, chrome eats much less CPU on the background, but is much more memory hungry.

      Which is why I don't use chrome. Tree style tabs on ff is still the best implementation of tabs I know of.

      --
      46137
    157. Re:bye by Somebody+Is+Using+My · · Score: 2

      Or use the button to disable shaped like a "gear" to disable it...

      Which works right up to the point where Mozilla removes this feature, as they have removed so many other features.

      Look, I get that programmers are expensive and Mozilla needs to pay the bills somehow, but maybe if they just focused on security concerns instead of trying to re-invent the browser every other version they wouldn't need so many programmers?

      Sadly, there is still little alternative to Firefox. Palemoon has a host of compatibility issues with many add-ons, Chrome is Google spyware, and Opera and Chromium just don't have the range of add-ons that Firefox has.

    158. Re: bye by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      Speak for yourself, I was never part of such a consensus. We had a nice slow evolution of user interfaces going on and they came in and fucked everything up.

    159. Re: bye by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      its little more than some standard CSS to adjust the UI however the hell you want.

      Here's the problem with that line of thinking, it's not outside of my scope, your scope and some of /.'s scope to do that. The average person who sees the change, has no clue how to change it. It's similar to greasemonkey for a lot of people, it's simply outside of their scope to do things with it. We're not the main audience of FF, but those who are also don't like UI changes for the sake of UI changes. You'd figure Mozilla would figure that out after Microsoft learned that...not once, but twice.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    160. Re:bye by Khyber · · Score: 1

      Did you bother turning off AHCI as well?

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    161. Re: bye by Cloud+K · · Score: 1

      Isn't Firefox open source? So fairly simple to make a fork without it?

      Definitely wouldn't use it as a reason to jump into NSA/Google's arms though!

    162. Re:bye by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      Last time I tried Pale Moon, about 2 months ago, it crashed unfixably due to some conflict with the desktop environment.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    163. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Chromium, not Chrome.

    164. Re: bye by Godwin+O'Hitler · · Score: 1

      What exactly were the complaints about the Firefox interface? It was a tried and tested design and didn't lack any features I needed.
      It's only a tool for browsing the Web for God's sake. Who are the people who asked it to do more than that?

      --
      No, your children are not the special ones. Nor are your pets.
    165. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you're just out of touch.

    166. Re:bye by ron_ivi · · Score: 1

      something leaner and meaner, focused militantly on privacy and even going so far as to deliberately not support portions of HTML5 (e.g. DRM).

      Pretty close to what Chromium is.

      It stripped AAC, Flash, and other patent-encumbered parts.

      I had hope for the dillo minimal browser, but not supporting javascript is getting pretty tough with many websites these days. Also hopeful that IceWeasel becomes the sane alternative if the Mozilla guys go crazy like this.

    167. Re: bye by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

      I would think this among other things is decided by marketers not the programmers.

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
    168. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Firefox happily uses all of the cores on my CPU and my GPU.

      You are confusing "multithreading" with "multi-process".

    169. Re:bye by Stan92057 · · Score: 1

      And what setting would that be for the non geek? pssst the other browsers don't need to be manually configured.for this mundane option.Why is that you think?

      --
      Jack of all trades,master of none
    170. Re:bye by Gort65 · · Score: 1

      No, you're just out of touch.

      I'm not the one comparing tabs to tiles within tabs, as if their usefulness is comparable by any reasonable margin, hence your hyperbole. Yeah, I know, you can ultimately do without both, so they can be comparable in that regard, but the impact of both isn't the same by a long shot. Bit of a false comparison you pulled there.

      Tiles are useful for some, but they can be superfluous for others. We're all different, and I don't begrudge the inclusion of tiles in Firefox if there's an option to disable them (as long as they're not a means to advertise). I can see their use for some types of user, but I can also do without them for my type of use.

      Still, whether one's in touch or out of touch, tiles are hardly what one could reasonably call a major feature. A useful feature, an additional one, but hardly the end of the world if not included.

      Anyway, moving on.

    171. Re:bye by NoMaster · · Score: 1

      Also on the top right of a new tab is a settings 'cog' where you can choose "Enhanced", "Classic" or "Blank" so you can easily turn this off.

      Yes, but the questions people are asking themselves are these: why would I want to use a broswer that keeps doing this kind of shit? Particularly when they have a demonstrated history of removing from display the option to undo that shit, all in the name of 'simplification' and 'a cleaner UI'?

      They're not new questions - they come up each time FF decides to 'improve' some aspect of their 'user experience', rather than actually improve their browser.

      I, for one, have gotten sick of repeatedly asking myself those questions and am sitting back on an older ESR version. I doubt I'll ever install FF again, and am happy to wait another couple of years for somebody like PaleMoon to get their Mac version reasonably stable, up-to-date, and working.

      --
      What part of "a well regulated militia" do you not understand?
    172. Re: bye by NoMaster · · Score: 1

      Consider the binonial distribution...

      Given N features changed, what are the odds of any one change being a fuck-up vs all of the changes being good?

      --
      What part of "a well regulated militia" do you not understand?
    173. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The "fix" is to EDIT THE SOURCE CODE TO REMOVE THIS "FEATURE", THEN REBUILD IT.

      Honestly, I think this is going too far. Nobody really wants this kind of advertising built into the browser, except marketing execs.

      It's one thing to make that a per-site "feature" (i.e. the site itself remembers what you've done on it. (Ex. Amazon. ebay, etc.)) but, it's another thing entirely when all of a sudden after a bout of wiki-syndrome, you start getting ads for heart / sex / etc pills, baby formula, cheap cosmetics, and hazardous material cleanup lawyers from every single place on the net.

      Mozilla, just remove this and cancel whatever deal you have with whatever marketing agency. All you will get by doing this is another reduction of your user base.

    174. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not just Firefox.
      OSX, Windows, Google Maps, Gnome, KDE, iOS, SimCity all are software products that were-nice-to-use in the past but have suffered usability degradation in the last few years.

    175. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      However, targeted ads (and that's what these are) based on information obtained by spying on my browser (yes, that's what it is) is an invasion of my privacy by definition. Invading my privacy is actually the opposite of respecting it. That makes the statement a lie, and that's really what upsets me; being lied to.

      Also, it's nice of them to offer the option to turn it off, but I guarantee that will be removed in the future, once the backlash has cooled down, which will eliminate the promised control over my data. But I admit it hasn't happened yet.........

    176. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i've only met *one* member of the mozilla foundation (a "community manager" i think)

      he is a self-centered asshole ("hey man, remember the name of the shop we went to two days ago?" "go away i'm busy" while waiting for a 3d printer to complete) with the social skills of a rake. I'd say sociopath, but i'm not qualified to make such a diagnosis.

      and not only it took me one day to figure it out but others have the same opinion on him.

      people have abandonded a very succesful hackerspace *solely* because of him.

      so yeah, so far mozilla is self-destructing.

    177. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what the fuck? what phone do you have exactly? because on my xperia z ultra firefox can keep maybe 5 pages loaded but if i dare to leave even to the home screen, it is not certain that even *one* page will remain loaded and not redownloaded when i return to it even immediately

    178. Re:bye by mirix · · Score: 1

      Last I checked, Iceweasel is just Firefox without any encumbered logos. Everything else is the same. The one in testing has shit australis UI, for example.

      --
      Sent from my PDP-11
    179. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Paniced minds," eh.

      I'd like to make a small correction. You can turn it off _now_. Mozilla HAD to have known exactly how this was going to go over with the community, but they're plowing ahead anyway. The fact that it can be turned off -now- is no guarantee you'll be able to turn it off -later- by any means.

      Either way, Mozilla seems to have literally been barraging me with one reason after another lately to give Chromium a shot, this one takes the cake. So long, Firefox!

    180. Re:bye by byuu · · Score: 1

      I'm not really all that trusting of it just yet. Seems like a really tiny dev team, and I am not confident they'll be able to keep up as the Mozilla codebase drifts further and further apart from theirs. But I hope I'm wrong.

      Also, there's no FreeBSD port available yet.

    181. Re:bye by byuu · · Score: 1

      I tried very hard to like Seamonkey. I even wrote an extractor for the intentionally corrupted omni.ja (ZIP file with a bad central index) so that I could patch the XUL files for the UI to get it looking nice.

      I ran into several problems: the allow-popups/cookie manager was the most obtuse UI I've ever seen in all my years of using computers, video wasn't capable of going full-screen, the loss of the element inspector was a major blow both to web development and using Adblock Plus with my own CSS blocking rules, etc.

      But this probably will be where I ultimately fall back to once I can no longer run older Firefox copies anymore (probably due to sites relying on some new feature not in FF28.)

    182. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. It's simple.

      Microsoft makes money from online ads.

      Google makes money from online ads.

      Google built up firefox as an OSS project (remember when tabs were brand new?) to kill IE's market dominance. They did so by making it really, really awesome.

      Firefox supports extensions, like Adblock.

      Adblock blocks googles ads and ads in general.

      Microsoft gets more money from corporate customers than it's ads, it encourages adblock on IE for security reasons.

      Google makes most of their money from ads.

      Google built chrome as a super fast browser. Chrome supports extensions, but increasingly only extensions are are downloaded from their web store.

      For right now, adblock is in their webstore.

      For how long?

      The advertisers are building the devices that are used to advertise, are you suprised about things like browser fingerprinting and them investing in IPV6 to make end user devices trackable (which is AWESOME in a corporate environment for asset tracking and security, but extraordinarily bad on the internet).

    183. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some choice exerpts to soothe the paniced minds:

      Paternalistic, insulting nonsense like "paniced minds" is irrelevant. Defaults matter, as you well know but dishonestly pretend don't.

      This is "boiling the frog" by the current firefox organization, trying to monetize their userbase, forget their roots and feather their own nest at the expense of everybody else. Judging by this if they can get a way with it it's only a matter of time before the firefox front page is almost entirely useless unsolicited advertising.

      Oh, and by-the-way, the phrase "Enhanced tiles" is meaningless marketing drivel.

    184. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Fuck Asa Dotzler and fuck all his clones.

      Fuck all these UX-team Chrome browser wannabes.

    185. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you think Microsoft, Google and Apple aren't tracking what your doing I've got a bridge in NY to sell you.

    186. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Then there was the switch to Yahoo for searches.
      Oh, FFS, you didn't need to reach that much... Why bitch about that when there are so many other real problems?

    187. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Configurability is slowly being removed. Remember how configurable the UI used to be before the Australis disaster hit?

      When Australis hit, only one thing changed for me: the firefox icon turned into a triple bar "hamburger" icon () and stuck it on the right side. I still have vertically-stacked tabs (TreeStyleTab), the old menu bar (though I have it on a button to save vertical space), and if I want I can disable the hamburger with the "Personal Menu" addon and have the pre-australis firefox button and menu instead.

      All they really did was make some cosmetic changes without removing the option of using addons to tweak it. The switch didn't even affect most of the UI addons I already had in use. Don't like it, change it, just like before.

    188. Re:bye by JMJimmy · · Score: 1

      Did you bother turning off AHCI as well?

      No, if you turn of AHCI the system won't be able to boot.

    189. Re:bye by CaTfiSh · · Score: 1

      You've got me regarding FreeBSD, but everything under Palemoon can be easily exported over to Firefox if the project started faltering. I began using it shortly after having Australis pushed onto me and haven't a single regret.

    190. Re:bye by JThundley · · Score: 1

      "Firefox is open source and free, but they introduced a tiny bit of advertising that can be turned off. Time to jump to a proprietary browser made by an ad company that's already tracking everything I do!"

      I don't like this development either, but ditching Firefox for something less free with more advertising is retarded, just like you are.

    191. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The exact same browser use scenario that needed 600mb back in 2006 should need 6GB in 2015, but this is exactly what happened. I'm sorry but if were able to do it all nice back then you are a lousy, negligent or incompetent software developer if you tell me now it is different. I find no reason to buy a shiny new system with 128gb RAM when the system I'm running it on was adequate.

    192. Re:bye by pmontra · · Score: 1

      I have a small 32 GB SSD on this laptop (I keep the OS there) plus a 750 GB spinning disk (data). The swap space would have been on the HD (I think swapping to SSD is bad because of write amplification) so I could have made it as big as I wished. However I decided to go without swap and see what happened. After more than one year I didn't have any problem. Even if I didn't hit max memory once I'm pretty sure the OS would have swapped out some programs sometimes because it makes sense to move out inactive programs to make space for buffer cache (it's Linux and I saw it happen in the past) but with so much RAM I don't care about 1 GB less of buffer cache. I prefer to have programs respond quickly after a couple of days I don't use them. I was constantly hitting swap to some degree on the old 4 GB laptop and it wasn't pretty. Obviously I didn't leave programs around much. Firefox, Thunderbird, emacs, terminal always open, the other programs on demand.

    193. Re: bye by marcello_dl · · Score: 1

      We were discussing the changes after a certain point in time (the birth of Chrome if you will) being all fuckups, I guess.

      --
      ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
    194. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have you tried Palemoon?

    195. Re:bye by Khyber · · Score: 1

      That is bullshit. Turning off AHCI just forces SATA into typical IDE mode, and you lose hot-swap and NCQ among other things. The system should boot just fine. If it doesn't, you've got a fucked system and even out of warranty the seriousness of the defect is such that it should still trigger a recall.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    196. Re: bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Had never heard it called Hanlon's razor, had to wiki it, but had heard of the British version- "Cockup before conspiracy!"

    197. Re:bye by Lord+Apathy · · Score: 1

      The "write amplification" on SSD is greatly exaggerated. Unless you are running a enterprise level database off of consumer drives I doubt your going to wear one out before it becomes obsolete. The SMART warning system is also greatly improved when it comes to SSDs over spinning rust. Just use it like a normal HD and don't worry about it.

      I have a 5 year old 256 GB SSD in my system now. It has been used as a system disk for that time. It is now at the end of its useful life. The SMART system is showing reallocated sectors on it, 3 to be exact, and it was small so I decided to replace it. I moved it off to a back channel and use it as a scratch drive. I replaced it with a modern 512 GB SSD. But still after 5 years of constant use its still good for that.

      --

      Supporting World Peace Through Nuclear Pacification

    198. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not an indispensable part of the browsing experience, at all. For "most users", it's just another universal feature that is mostly ignored in all of the competing products. The only reason they have it is to put a checkmark in their column of the browser feature comparison chart.

    199. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      as they say, "there's an app (addon) for that".

      for example, classic theme restorer does an excellent job at returning customize options to firefox ui..

    200. Re:bye by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      Did you do what the people suggested which was NOT to update the drivers but instead to ROLL THEM (way the hell) BACK?

      Clearly not, since you are going on about updates and claiming "that was fixed" (but then detail how it wasn't.)

      Reading comprehension score, 1st test: 0
      Reading comprehension score, 2nd test: 0

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    201. Re:bye by antdude · · Score: 1

      Use SeaMonkey that uses Firefox's engine. It hasn't changed its suite design for decades. ;)

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    202. Re:bye by antdude · · Score: 1

      But can those bookmarks save form datas I inputted?

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    203. Re:bye by antdude · · Score: 1

      That's great for technical users, but what about non-technical users who don't know computers?

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    204. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, but you're just flat-out wrong. Try getting out of your basement sometime.

    205. Re:bye by toddestan · · Score: 1

      I use it, and find it to be a very good browser. Granted, I have some of the same the same concerns about the long term prospects of the browser given such a small development team, but I can always switch to something else if I have to. It seems like a better solution than using an old version of Firefox that won't be gehttp://news.slashdot.org/story/15/05/22/1318215/ads-based-on-browsing-history-are-coming-to-all-firefox-users#tting anymore updates.

    206. Re:bye by toddestan · · Score: 1

      The version of Iceweasel on stable (Wheezy) also has the Australis UI. Luckily installing Palemoon is pretty painless.

    207. Re:bye by toddestan · · Score: 1

      It depends on what operating system you're using. Windows will constantly swap stuff out to the page file, just in case something suddenly needs all that RAM. Linux generally won't touch the swap unless RAM is running low and it needs to.

    208. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or, you guys could simply install the "Classic Theme Restorer" browser extension for Firefox which will let you keep the previous UI and disable numerous new "features".

      As for privacy-based ads on the start page, you can easily disable this by turning off the tiles, or going to config and disable altogether... or I'm sure Classic Theme Restorer will soon add this option too.

    209. Re:bye by lsatenstein · · Score: 1

      Google does it, the new explorer will do it, your ISP will swap out the adverts for his own. The sad part is, more ads occurring then contents.

      --
      Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
    210. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just install the Classic Theme Restorer addon which will fix everything and allow you to customise the UI to a much larger degree.

    211. Re:bye by JMJimmy · · Score: 1

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      I was putting together systems back when they still called CPUs "Math co-processors", I know my shit.

    212. Re:bye by JMJimmy · · Score: 1

      Yes, I tried that, and about 40 other things that I'm not going to detail out because it's a fucking waste of time.

    213. Re:bye by Khyber · · Score: 1

      I was working on systems before Math Co-processors existed.

      You also apparently can't read - "On Windows Vista and Windows 7, this can be fixed by configuring the msahci device driver to start at boot time (rather than on-demand)"

      Derp.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    214. Re:bye by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      Gees, talk about everyone nervous disposition. Personally who gives a crap what Mozilla Corporation trial in beta's the sky is the limit, Pretty fucking obviously Mozilla Corporation is looking to distance themselves from Goggle and do not want to be to heavily tied to one particular customers. So they are striving to create a much more diverse customer base. So far mostly they sell primary spot in the search bar and some contract work. Logically creating various branded versions of firefox and thunder bird could be a logical choice. So for example Sony Fire Fox, in Sony theme, perhaps a Sony menu and the option or not whether to go with it. As Mozilla does not sell Fire Fox branding is not that important for them, still of value but not all that valuable in future downloads, so market branded versions of Fire Fox as default themes could be a valuable market.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    215. Re:bye by JMJimmy · · Score: 1

      You could fix it, if it actually booted the install for Windows 7 with AHCI off, which it doesn't.

    216. Re: bye by kbrannen · · Score: 1

      Maybe, but in almost every single browser topic here on /. there will be at least one thread going off about shitty Australis --- Which really puts into question the rest of their complaints. The Firefox Australis UI may look different than the previous traditional FF UI... but so what?! If you don't like it, its little more than some standard CSS to adjust the UI however the hell you want. Almost every single FF bitch about changes is little more than bullshit --- I have yet to see a FF change that can't be reverted with either CSS or an extension. If there really was some agenda to "destroy" Firefox, they certainly wouldn't leave in the ability to undo/revert these so-called horrible changes.

      There are some changes that I'll agree with you on. I hate the Australis UI change, but the Classic Theme Restorer plugin does fix most of that. But I'll call BS on the rest.

      There were a number of changes (say from v25-35 timeframe) where they removed the ability to turn things on and off by removing the controls from the about:config interface. Can't fix that with CSS or an extension if the code to do what you want is completely gone.

      And don't get me started on the stupidity of the Chat/Loop/webrtc thing they just added as a core tech ... with no ability to remove it. If there was ever a candidate for doing something as a plugin, that seems like it to me, but they didn't do that. Sure, I can turn off the control with an about:config change, but I can't get rid of the bloat and potential for bugs and who knows what else it could bring when I'll never use it.

      I don't believe there's a conspiracy to kill FF, but there's been so many stupid decisions lately by Mozilla that a conspiracy actually starts to look slightly believable.

    217. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Opera 12 will happily keep on working properly with 40+ tabs open on my decade old Powerbook. Safari on the same machine chokes on 4 tabs, Firefox on 20. On my x64 work PC the situation is pretty much identical, except that the number of total tabs is maybe four times as high in each browser...

    218. Re:bye by rn10950 · · Score: 1

      Have you guys tried SeaMonkey? It uses the classic Mozilla Suite UI and has none of the new advertising "features".

    219. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm betting 10:1 you failed because you used optical install media instead of a USB drive. ACHI fucks with optical drives. Khyber's right and pretty much any computer should be able to boot up Windows 7 no matter what, and there are always workaround that are very simple. Keep waiting for him to fuck up but he hasn't and he's been correct this entire time.

    220. Re:bye by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ACHI off means you aren't using a fucking optical drive, nimrod.

      USB stick.

    221. Re: bye by CrashNBrn · · Score: 1
      Yes, I myself find it disconcerting to see such things added to core, when things like Tab Groups aren't even given a spot on the UI unless you Customize, and go add it yourself.

      Or the fact that almost all "core" behaviour of tabs relies on Extension Authors... But! we have a CHAT and Pinterest-like "pin/save" conten... that fucks up all Ctrl-Letter shortcuts once you Middle-Click or Ctrl-Click on a link on a page.... now all Ctrl+anyLetter shortcut opens that link.

      Ctrl+Click or middle click on any link. Now press Ctrl-W. The tab does not close, another tab is opened for that link instead.

      Lovely.

    222. Re:bye by jopsen · · Score: 1

      Look, I get that programmers are expensive and Mozilla needs to pay the bills somehow,

      From my understanding this is about two thing, (1) income diversification, (2) demonstrating that recommended sponsored content can be done without compromising privacy. As the tiles can't run code or track you, and recommendations are all done client side. At least as far as I understand.

      but maybe if they just focused on security concerns instead of trying to re-invent the browser every other version they wouldn't need so many programmers?

      Give me a break, we also want better performance, process isolation, UI tweaks, new HTML5+ features, new javascript features (ES6), new video codecs (daala), all the stuff that makes web the platform, so we can do more with it...

      Did I mention research in VR, yeah, that is crazy, but if Mozilla doesn't participate in the standards development it'll all be proprietary (or hard to implement).

    223. Re:bye by vandamme · · Score: 1

      Because Google would never spy on you to sell you crap.

  2. Roll your own... by koan · · Score: 1, Insightful
    --
    "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
    1. Re:Roll your own... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Honestly, at that point I'd rather switch to Pale Moon.

    2. Re:Roll your own... by antiperimetaparalogo · · Score: 2

      https://developer.mozilla.org/... Build Instructions

      Dude... don't do that... some kids may try it and cause an explosion or something... you don't want that on your conscience!

      --
      Antisthenes: "Wisdom begins by examining the words/names." - excuse my English, i am (slightly...) better with my Greek!
    3. Re:Roll your own... by koan · · Score: 1

      So I shouldn't post my shatter recipe that uses propane?

      --
      "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
    4. Re:Roll your own... by antiperimetaparalogo · · Score: 1

      So I shouldn't post my shatter recipe that uses propane?

      NOOO.... o.k. dude, you were right, let's build some firefoxes, it's fun!

      --
      Antisthenes: "Wisdom begins by examining the words/names." - excuse my English, i am (slightly...) better with my Greek!
    5. Re:Roll your own... by Khyber · · Score: 1

      >using propane
      >not supercritical CO2
      >not using acetone
      >not using pure-grain alcohol

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    6. Re:Roll your own... by 3.5+stripes · · Score: 1

      Where do you get pure propane from?

      --


      He tried to kill me with a forklift!
    7. Re:Roll your own... by koan · · Score: 1

      >using propane
      Am I the one smoking it?
      >not supercritical CO2
      Too expensive
      >not using acetone
      Really? How you going to clean it?
      >not using pure-grain alcohol
      Hydrophilic.
      >Can't discern humor from reality.
      *cough*

      --
      "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
    8. Re:Roll your own... by Khyber · · Score: 1

      You must be new to this. Acetone, being 100% volatile, goes away cleanly. Perfect for whole-extract cannabinoids.

      Supercritical CO2 is not expensive. Not by any means. You can get it dirt cheap at paintball stores.

      Alcohol and water is not a problem when you still have to do far less heat-purging versus butane/propane/hexane.

      >doesn't know greentext arrows are implications of joking humor.

      Yup, really new to this.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    9. Re:Roll your own... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If this isn't the derpiest question ever. Fractional distillation, duh.

      Cool the shit way the fuck down. Dry ice with 50/50 ethylene glycol and ethanol is enough to freeze it, and then you simply allow it to reheat through its boiling point. Collect that fraction, and call it a day.

    10. Re:Roll your own... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      s/freeze/condense/

      I knew there was a reason there's a preview button...

  3. This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Why? Why do you rape us with this kind of shit? Is fucking with the UI (making the goddamn options menu a ugly mess of a webpage) and adding DRM codecs not enough?

    Jesus christ on a stick. You can't find a way to suicide your market share faster.

    1. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That's not an answer. Why the fuck would anyone bend over backwards to make Firefox usable when they can just download a different browser?

      I'm with OP. Mozilla apparently has a death wish and doesn't give a shit about how they treat their users, so fuck 'em.

    2. Re:This is the last fucking straw by jellomizer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      DRM codecs are a feature, it allows you to access more sites. Some people are out to make software and not always a political statement.
      However adding custom adds doesn't seem to help the end user out in any way.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    3. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ads - advertisements

      adds - MBA-speak for "additions"

    4. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Microlith · · Score: 1

      Why do you rape us with this kind of shit?

      This is the sort of unhinged bullshit that makes me disregard the criticism directed towards Mozilla these days.

    5. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Wow, all these people complaining like babies and throwing tantrums like teenagers!

      You have absolutely no idea of HOW an organisation as big as Mozilla keep going without money?!
      Developers won't work for free, and if they do, it would be during very limited spare time after coming home tired from their main job - and thus, development on Firefox and other Mozilla projects would crawl to snail-pace.

      Thus, if people aren't donating, what other choice do they have except go to the likes of Google/Yahoo for funding?!
      Remember, Wikipedia requires *millions* every year to operate, and yet it's such a small-scale project compared to Mozilla and Firefox.

      Wake up retards, we live in a world in which people need money to live.

    6. Re:This is the last fucking straw by jez9999 · · Score: 4, Informative

      This stuff applies to the Firefox GUI rather than the underlying rendering engine. Use something that utilizes Gecko but without the crappy UI, like SeaMonkey or Pale Moon.

    7. Re:This is the last fucking straw by jez9999 · · Score: 1

      "Suicide" is not a verb.

      Yes it is.

    8. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Runaway1956 · · Score: 2

      "Features" are in the eye of the beholder. If I need DRM to access a site, I just move on to something more interesting and/or important. I simply do not play that game. If I wanted to be digitally restricted, I could always get caught robbing a bank, and spend several years in prison, right?

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    9. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Remind me never to enter any passwords into your computer or surf any privacy-sensitive sites. You're literally agreeing to hand over control of your system with digital restrictions. It's a really stupid move from a security perspective. There are already lots of problems in in the code we know about. To increase the software we know nothing about is just stupidity.

    10. Re:This is the last fucking straw by byuu · · Score: 1

      DRM codecs are a feature

      No they're not. Now that DRM codecs are widely available in every major browser, there's no cost associated with lost customers who don't have the DRM extensions in their browsers. The end result of Mozilla et al caving on DRM is that more sites are going to start using it than would have otherwise.

      If I want to pay to watch DRMed Netflix content, then I have a $30 TV stick for that. I didn't need DRM on the web for that.

    11. Re:This is the last fucking straw by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      You have absolutely no idea of HOW an organisation as big as Mozilla keep going without money?!

      Sure an organisation the size of Mozilla or wikimedia's requires a lot of money. Losing that money would be painful and require a massive downsizing.

      But do these overbloated nonprofits really serve their communities? Neither wikipedia or firefox seem appreciablly better (and in some ways worse) then they were when the organisations behind them were much smaller. The resources seem to be being spent on pet projects and contraversial UI redesigns rather than on making real improvements in their core products.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    12. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      DRM codecs are a feature, it allows you to access more sites. Some people are out to make software and not always a political statement.

      Unfortunately, Mozilla is a non-profit with a mission statement. You can google it, and suffice to say it's hard to see how DRM fits into it. If *they* don't believe in their mission statement or act against it, it's hard to blame anyone else for losing faith in their decision making process.

      However adding custom adds doesn't seem to help the end user out in any way.

      Agreed.

      Mozilla is now in the throes of a long-term governance and talent problem, where the type of people left or attracted are more interested in their coworkers political views than their skill or technical merits. Deciding to learn XUL (knowledge of which translates to zero outside of Mozilla) or wrapping your head around their engines and codebase means generally have to be enthusiastic or believe in the project, and they've cut a lot of that away. It's really, really sad.

    13. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is english. You can verb any noun.

    14. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would agree with that to some extent.

      But remember, these pet-projects, such as Firefox OS has potential as it becomes bigger to serve the needs of corporates... just like we recently heard Panasonic using FirefoxOS in the smart-TV's.

      And other projects like Thunderbird, which they wanted to downscale or end, serves many millions of users.

      And sadly, there is no other privacy-orientated alternatives to Firefox, keeping in mind the massive add-ons eco-system - which work on all 3 major platforms.

      Also, it's been like 8 years since iPhone came out, and yet we still don't really have a viable privacy-based alternatives to the likes of android spyware, etc. ... except perhaps, maybe the BlackPhone.

    15. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Blue+Stone · · Score: 1

      Or just turn it off, you raving, hysterical lunatic.

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    16. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then why not charge for the browser? I would pay extra money for a browser that respects my privacy.

    17. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Crimey+McBiggles · · Score: 1

      Actually considering it's easily forked (and in fact is forked for certain Linux distros), it's a pretty good answer.

      Yeah, I'm probably ditching Mozilla, too, as soon as something better than Chrome comes along, but don't pretend open-source is insignificant.

      --
      Crimey
    18. Re: This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pretty sure Brendan Eich would not have been fired if Mozilla was run by Republicans!

    19. Re:This is the last fucking straw by jopsen · · Score: 1

      "Features" are in the eye of the beholder. If I need DRM to access a site, I just move on to something more interesting and/or important. I simply do not play that game. If I wanted to be digitally restricted, I could always get caught robbing a bank, and spend several years in prison, right?

      Fact is mostly users have flash, silverlight or the vlc fork that hbo uses installed, and they will gladly install these "security holes"..
      At least the FF DRM is a sandbox within which DRM content can run, the sandbox is open source (by FF) the module proprietary by adobe and only downloaded if you want to use it.

    20. Re:This is the last fucking straw by koan · · Score: 1

      Well because they get to decide what gets in and what gets left out, and I don't see how building your own Firefox is "bending over backwards".
      I see a few choices, build your own, use a different one, or cry until they change it for you.
      Looks like you're going the last route.

      --
      "If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
    21. Re:This is the last fucking straw by ChrisMaple · · Score: 1

      Chuckle. 78 years ago, Margaret Mitchell used "birth" as a verb to illustrate illiterate ignorance. Now it is commonplace, alas.

      --
      Contribute to civilization: ari.aynrand.org/donate
    22. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because majority of the population wouldn't pay, and would rather move to something else ad-supported like Chrome or Opera or even IE.

      And the proof of that is in Mozilla kindly and gently asking the users of Firefox to donate (on the start page) for many years, and yet, very few or no one does.

    23. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Non sequitur much?

    24. Re: This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even knowing what you can do is of little help if inertia is strong. Reminds me of slashdot beta in some ways. We are all still here, hmmm?
      Sadly the same happened with systemd, Windows Vista or 8, KDE4, gnome3 being imposed on new adopters. Few exceptions are remarkable, like flash's death on mobile, but that one has a different smell to it anyway

    25. Re: This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Mozilla were run by Republicans, it would have a price and we would make the use of any other browser as grounds for suspecting you of terrorism. We would send Republican RTK (Rape-Torture-Kill) teams to your houses armed with flamethrowers and toothpicks to poke out your eyes - not before they've raped your whole family and pets (goldfish included). That is the way of our kind, because we hate you.

    26. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are a fucking idiot.

      First of all, stop whining. You sound like a little kid throwing a temper tantrum because nobody cares about your batshit insane notions or your open sores crusade.

      Secondly, nobody with a life or job has the time nor inclination to tinker and toy around with thousands of lines of code. We just downloaded other browsers and bam, replacement in five minutes tops.

      Third, you're obviously a Mozilla shill, with the way you keep pushing hacking Firefox source code as some kind of realistic solution and the fact that you refuse to understand that people are happy to dump your shit browser in favour of one that works properly.

    27. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      choke on a dick

    28. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If I need DRM to access a site, I just move on to something more interesting and/or important. I simply do not play that game.

      That's nice. Other people aren't necessarily you, however. Having this functionality helps them out, and has absolutely no impact on you.

      Grow up and get over yourself. You're not the only person on earth.

    29. Re:This is the last fucking straw by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      LOL, of course I'm not the only person on earth. But, I may be one of the smartest. I'm not the ONLY person who refuses to play these DRM games. Which is smarter, the rats that run the maze, or the rats that simply refuse to run, knowing they'll be fed just the same after the tests?

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  4. How about ... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "With Suggested Tiles, we want to show the world that it is possible to do relevant advertising and content recommendations while still respecting users' privacy and giving them control over their data."

    How about no? How about some of us don't want advertising? How about you better give a mechanism to disable this crap?

    What part of "not interested in your damned ads" is hard to understand?

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:How about ... by Mr.+Droopy+Drawers · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Provide a method to turn this off and I'll keep using Firefox. If not, I may need to like Chrome more...

      --

      To Copy from One is Plagiarism; To Copy from Many is Research.

    2. Re:How about ... by mrt_2394871 · · Score: 4, Informative

      How about you better give a mechanism to disable this crap?

      Click on the "gear" icon (top right of the new tab page)
      Clear the "Include suggested sites" box

    3. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

      While I agree with the sentiment, what would be “a better mechanism” to disable this crap? The UI to disable this will be 2 clicks on the new tab page, or if you prefer, 1 pref to toggle.

      There are many reasons not to like this, but don't think they could have made it any easier to disable.

      IMO, the tie-up with Pocket is much more damning for Mozilla's reputation. They've just plain given up on trying to make the web open and fair. The Mozilla Manifesto means nothing now.

    4. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They made $380 million last year. How much is enough?

    5. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      ..because chrome doesn't collect browsing data for ad delivery? lol

      I guess the lesson we're leaning is: keeping quiet about behavior is indeed better than being open.

    6. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Click on the "gear" icon (top right of the new tab page)

      They are making it look like internet exploder, ewww.

    7. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We already have that in side panels on Chrome.
      Worst Idea EVER !!!!!!!
      Why would I want to see ads about the same sites I have just been. Or bought stuff from.
      Very annoying
      Just because I bought one thing. Does not mean I will be buying more from them.
      What if I bought there product and it resulted in my spouses death.
      So now I get to receive ads from this company till you decide to change it.
      THANKS for that.

    8. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "With Suggested Tiles, we want to show the world that it is possible to do relevant advertising and content recommendations while still respecting users' privacy and giving them control over their data."

      How about no? How about some of us don't want advertising? How about you better give a mechanism to disable this crap?

      What part of "not interested in your damned ads" is hard to understand?

      How about enforcing a reasonable approach to advertising? Unless I have AdBlock running, some sites are absolutely unusable. I don't know why ads in 2015 still have to blink and buzz to get my attention. If all this feature does is allow for space that can be abused by an advertiser, then I'm with everyone else. Unfortunately, I think this opens the door

    9. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If all of that is spent on hot-shot programmers at $200k a year it would cover a dev team of 80.

      Oh wait, that's the fucking profit!!!! Not just the revenue???

      Fuck me, this thing is a nightmare, no wonder it's gone to crap. For those wondering who, there's one answer: money....

    10. Re:How about ... by dmgxmichael · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Like it or not advertising shapes the world we are in. Where do you think the million dollar super-star athlete salaries come from? Advertising. Free programming? Advertising. I can go on. It's incredibly unlikely you don't own at least one thing you either got for free due to advertising or was subsidized by advertising.

      No one likes advertising, but everyone wants free stuff. Why do you think advertising is attached to free stuff? Who do you think is paying for the free stuff?

      Companies that pay advertisers want a return on their money spent. That's what all the tracking is about - to justify the money spent. I can understand them wanting to get that data, but I also understand not wanting to be tracked and targeted. Even if by an impersonal computer, it's creepy.

      Full disclosure here - I work for an advertiser. And here's hilarity for you - nearly every computer in this department runs ad-block to stop viruses or who knows what else from getting into the system. There's a lot of abuse out there by the unscrupulous to the downright criminal "one simple trick scam" idiots.

      There's a lot of problems with the current system. If you can devise a better system for all parties there's a lot of money in it for you, go for it.

      But it's two-year-old level childish thinking at it's finest to think you can get all the free and subsidized stuff out here in the world without the advertising that pays for it. Sure, you can block it - but if the blocking ever rises to statistically significant levels then the revenue model will be forced to change, and probably not for the better.

    11. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yet they made $380M off of initiatives we clearly despise. Since when is them trying to better the situation and not put all of their eggs in one basket a bad thing? Christ, you guys will come up with every possible excuse to vilify Mozilla, won't you?

    12. Re:How about ... by nehumanuscrede · · Score: 1

      My mind is trying to wrap itself around what sort of person over at Mozilla sits around and thinks:

      "Hmmmm, what could be our next feature to win over the folks using Chrome or IE . . . . something to really get folks excited . . . . "
      . . . time passes . . .
      "OH I KNOW ! How about MORE advertising !

      Because obviously, the internet doesn't have enough of it already :| Brilliant . . . .

      Dear Mozilla ( and the rest of you browser developers while we're on the subject ):

      We develop and install things like Adblock, filter our traffic through proxy servers, use VPN's, and / or use every means at our
      disposal to sanitize and disrupt as much advertising / tracking as possible from what is rapidly becoming an Internet that tastes like Cable TV.

      If your ultimate goal is to destroy everything you've worked for up to this point, you're doing an outstanding job of it.

    13. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This may interest you

      http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=7451877&cid=49750911

      I did something similar. I set it to www.google.com. I picked what I usually do with an empty tab. I am searching. You can make it open anything.

    14. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We blocked popups, and popups went away. We block big boxes of ads, they will go away.

    15. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      CLICK HERE FOR PICTURE

      Study the picture. I'm sure if you practice it a few times you can do on your own. If not, have your mom help you.

    16. Re:How about ... by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      Maybe you meant to say "Iron Browser" rather than Chrome. The official Chrome or Chromium from Google scoops up more data than Firefox even dreams about.

      http://www.srware.net/en/softw...

      Yeah, I like Iron pretty well, but I'm growing to like Pale Moon better.

      https://www.palemoon.org/

      And, if those don't suit you, you can always go with this one.

      http://lynx.browser.org/

      The memory footprint for that last one is almost invisible on a 4 GB system!

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    17. Re:How about ... by ljw1004 · · Score: 2

      No one likes advertising, but everyone wants free stuff. Why do you think advertising is attached to free stuff? Who do you think is paying for the free stuff?

      WE are paying for the advertising and the free stuff. I only saw figures from early 2000s, when the total amount spent on advertising in the US averaged out at about $20k per citizen.

      That's a HUGE advertising tax that we're all paying. And what do we get from this tax? Better healthcare? Job security? Vacations and time off? No, what we get is to subsidize the parasites working in the advertising industry, and we enable them to force unwanted ads onto our eyeballs, and we get a few tiny geegaws thrown our way.

      I can't opt out of paying the advertising tax (through everyday higher prices of every single damn object I purchase). But I sure as heck will opt out of everything I possibly can.

      But it's two-year-old level childish thinking at it's finest to think you can get all the free and subsidized stuff out here in the world without the advertising that pays for it.

      I think you have a mental block on the question "who pays for the advertising that pays for the free stuff". Please hold off the accusations of childish thinking.

    18. Re:How about ... by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      There are plenty of suckers out there who have no concept of privacy or anonymity. So - along with fifty million other users, I deprive Mozilla of an income stream that they imagined that they were entitled to. Are they going to notice? All fifty million of us together aren't hurting Mozilla any at all.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    19. Re:How about ... by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      Next, browsers will come with a disclaimer: "Epileptic persons should not use this browser."

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    20. Re:How about ... by Glarimore · · Score: 2

      But Google isn't keeping quiet about it, either. Everyone knows Google makes their money from sharing user's habits with 3rd parties and targeting advertising.

    21. Re:How about ... by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      "Who do you think is paying for the free stuff?"

      End users. Customers. Consumers. The unwashed masses. The advertisers don't pay for anything - they skim money off of you and me, and half a billion other end users, then they imaginatively put some infinitesimal part of that money to use giving away "free stuff". TANSTAAFL

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    22. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If they had programmers who were worth $200K/year, Firefox wouldn't be the garbage that it currently is.

      They could get the same results from $50K/year programmers.

    23. Re:How about ... by Mars+Saxman · · Score: 1

      I would be happy to do without the free stuff, most of which is crap, if it meant I would never have to deal with advertising anymore.

      Ad-supported "free" stuff feels like a bait-and-switch; "here's something cool, oh no wait it's just an ad-delivery medium". I'd rather know up front what I'm getting into, and not have ad-encrusted crap constantly trying to sneak past my filters by acting like real stuff.

      Adblockers help a lot, and making a general rule of avoiding commercial media helps too, but it'd be really nice if I could relax and let my guard down sometimes. It's not fun knowing that there is an army of trained professionals out there doing their crappy best to manipulate me into buying certain things or thinking about things in certain ways, and that nothing short of constant vigilance will protect me from them.

    24. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here's a better way: Make a product that you can sell.

      Ever notice how Microsoft doesn't harvest user data or fill their sites with ads? That's because they make products that people buy. Mozilla is trying to go the easy way out.

    25. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Free software should be free, not paid for by non-monetary means. If someone wants to earn a living writing software, then they should either use a moral way to obtain money via their project, or they should get a real job and work on their pet projects on their spare time. If that is not enough, then they are just fucking over their users for their own personal gain.

      I block ads in my firewall and my local DNS-server using whitelisting policies. My network, my rules. Regardless of who wrote the programs and why.

    26. Re:How about ... by dmgxmichael · · Score: 1

      That's a HUGE advertising tax that we're all paying.

      Tax? So if you don't buy Pepsi products someone will seize your home or garnish your wages? If Pepsi doesn't buy advertising they'll pay enormous fines? If CNN refuses to run ads the company get shut down? If you don't watch CNN someone will put you in jail? Hyperbole much?

      Companies run advertisements to raise brand or product awareness and increase sales. They can't raise their prices arbitrarily to do so or their competitors will put them out of business with lower prices. The advertiser either succeeds at doing what the client wants or they take their business elsewhere and he goes out of business. Content publishers, such as say, news sites, run advertising to pay the costs of not only the equipment but also the content creators - such as reporters. It ain't cheap for CNN to fly someone out to Damascus to get shot at while doing a report.

      As a percentage of gross income advertising for most companies is low. Consider a blockbuster film - The ads for a $170 million dollar to make film acount for maybe 2% of that figure - the rest is in salaries for the enormous amount of people it takes to make such a film and their equipment. Most of the the lead actors are paid more individually than the advertising budget.

      So yes, you think like a child and not very far past your nose at that.

    27. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Personally, I've never said I wouldn't be willing to pay for a web browser. But, I probably wouldn't pay for the mess that is Internet Explorer, or post-Australis Firefox, or Chrome with it's closed source code and strong ties to Google's tracking and monitoring, but in principle I have no problem with paying directly for a browser that respects my privacy and freedom. In my case, the problem is one of supply, not of demand. It is questionable whether there is sufficient overall demand to make a paid-for browser viable, but crowdfunding seems to be quite popular lately, so it's not inconceivable.

      Also, with many government services and administrative functions moving online and only accessible in that way, I have a major problem with being required to use software that has advertisements in it, so there needs to be at least one browser available for everyone that does not have advertisments in it. (It need not be free of charge, so long as it is Free Software.)

    28. Re:How about ... by cmdr_klarg · · Score: 1

      Like it or not advertising shapes the world we are in. Where do you think the million dollar super-star athlete salaries come from? Advertising. Free programming? Advertising. I can go on. It's incredibly unlikely you don't own at least one thing you either got for free due to advertising or was subsidized by advertising.

      No one likes advertising, but everyone wants free stuff. Why do you think advertising is attached to free stuff? Who do you think is paying for the free stuff?

      That's the problem: Ads are so damned pervasive that it is nearly impossible to get a moment's peace from them.

      I run adblocker unapologetically. I refuse to sit through pre-content ads if I can help it. I don't care if the content is "free". That 30 second ad playing in front of the content I want to watch is 30 seconds of my life that I cannot get reimbursed for (never mind that it is the SAME DAMNED AD for the next 20 bits of content). If there was a way to pay a nominal fee for ad-free I'll gladly pay it.

      Companies that pay advertisers want a return on their money spent. That's what all the tracking is about - to justify the money spent. I can understand them wanting to get that data, but I also understand not wanting to be tracked and targeted. Even if by an impersonal computer, it's creepy.

      Full disclosure here - I work for an advertiser. And here's hilarity for you - nearly every computer in this department runs ad-block to stop viruses or who knows what else from getting into the system. There's a lot of abuse out there by the unscrupulous to the downright criminal "one simple trick scam" idiots.

      All very good reasons I don't want to see ads. Let me repeat: I am willing to pay to avoid them. I don't listen to AM or FM radio anymore, Sirius XM is much better with NO ADS. I pay for Hulu Plus which does have ads, but not like one would see on a cable channel. If they ever come up with a paid tier where I see NO ADS I will gladly pay it. If your content service has no options to reduce or eliminate ads for me it is unlikely that I will continue to use it.

      --
      THE SOFTWARE, IT NO WORKY!!!
    29. Re:How about ... by dmgxmichael · · Score: 1

      I would be happy to do without the free stuff, most of which is crap, if it meant I would never have to deal with advertising anymore.

      As would I even though I'd have to find a different line of work. Musing about such things is pointless - advertising has been with us before we were even human - what the Hell do you think bird songs are for? To advertise for a mate.

      There are real problems in the web ad industry and as usual the legislatures are about ten steps behind the times when it comes to enacting needed laws to protect citizen's privacy. I don't work for a company that indulges in such abuses but they're out there and we do compete with them. I'm not in favor of this plug in on Firefox at all. There's a certain irony in them stooping to this - when Firefox was new blocking pop-ups was one of its main selling points.

      Aggregate tracking I have no problem with - but I'm a pragmatist. Specific tracking is something no one should be in favor of, not even the advertisers. If you have specific information on someone you're morally obliged to secure that information and personally I don't want any part in that responsibility. It needs to become a legal imperative with very stiff fines for failure to secure the data. Even then, such things should only be opt in by law.

    30. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Like it or not

      Not. Thanks for playing. Next!

    31. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How is this insightful? Opera ASA made over $481M in revenue, which is over $100M more than Mozilla in 2015. And that's just Opera. Google, MS and Apple have so much revenue that Mozilla making $380M isn't even a drop in the bucket. And THIS is what you're whining about? The only company of the lot who are trying to use their money to steer the web in a better direction, and you're complaining that they're trying to grow? You're complaining that because of the lack of funding they get from us, their "loyal" fans, they have to seek other sources? If a few ads bother you, then maybe you should be organizing a donation drive instead of bitching about Mozilla trying to wean themselves off the search engine revenue teat in ways you don't like.

    32. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      response = default_value?FUCK_EM:OKAY_THEN;

    33. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Chromium probably doesn't

    34. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would prefer to live in a world where there is less shitty subsidised free stuff and more paid for quality stuff. The world being the way it is though, I will continue to take whatever I can get while militantly blocking, spoofing and feeding bullshit to your attempts to crawl up my ass and bombard me with your stupid shit. I certainly won't be crying if people like you end up starving as a result.

    35. Re:How about ... by Locando · · Score: 1

      But it's two-year-old level childish thinking at it's finest to think you can get all the free and subsidized stuff out here in the world without the advertising that pays for it.

      You had a perfectly reasonable argument up until this point, upon which you essentially said you don't see any reasonable way to hold an opinion opposite to yours. Why the defensiveness? Do you honestly believe the industry that pays your living is defensible, or are you just looking to make yourself feel better by arguing for it and then preemptively shutting down debate?

      Or, to put it another way, are you trying to persuade those of us who disagree with you, or was the purpose of your comment more to persuade yourself?

    36. Re:How about ... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I can't opt out of paying the advertising tax (through everyday higher prices of every single damn object I purchase).

      You can't opt out completely, not if you want to be a functioning member of society, but you can mitigate the issue by choosing to buy as many products as possible which are not advertised. One of the nifty things about the web is that you can actually find those products now...

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    37. Re:How about ... by xarragon · · Score: 1

      You accuse us of being childish, yet the advertising industry has been acting childish and condescending to its "audience" for ages. Loud noise, flashing images; anything to disturb and get a measurable, short term reaction, even if the reaction is one of disgust and rejection.

      For all the talk of "personalized" ads, what is being shoved at us is typically corporate propaganda, shown in poor context and without any finesse. Intercut into any media which people DO care about, it can little more than detract from the value of that content. Most disturbingly of all, the industry representatives seems to reject this notion altogether, throwing up the aforementioned defense of "it pays the bills!" as one would a cross to a vampire.

      But now they HAVE the solution, and that solution is basically advertisements disguised as "legitimate" journalism. Because deceiving your audience is a surefire way to create a long-standing, trusting relationship.

      If you want an example of what the future of advertising will probably look like, head over to the show "Triangulation" at Twit.TV. They have made time for their sponsors inside the show proper. It is integrated as any other segment of the show, but with full disclosure.

      I used to fast forward past it. I don't any more, because once I got used to it, it did not offend me any more. And it is far, far more effective on me than I would like to admit. It creates a trust between me, the consumer and the author of the show. It is the future for advertisment. A future where no global tracking networks and excessive off-site resource loading is required.

      And probably a lot less dedicated advertisers.

    38. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We are paying with money, with freedom and with our souls.
      What more do you want??

      Captcha: coffers

    39. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I only saw figures from early 2000s, when the total amount spent on advertising in the US averaged out at about $20k per citizen.

      You are off by a factor of about 37 - its $540 per US citizen in 2013:
      http://www.emarketer.com/Artic...

      Given the US median income is now ~$52,000 per household, I'd say its worth advertising agencies to spend that much money. I don't agree with the excessive advertising mind you, but had to call out the number given here as wrong.

    40. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Provide a method to turn this off

      They did. You can turn it off with two clicks. Did you read about the feature at all?

    41. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's incredibly unlikely you don't own at least one thing you either got for free due to advertising or was subsidized by advertising.

      Unsolicited advertising pays for nothing. It's just an inefficient change to the payment plan, forcing people to pay twice over, once in lost time and attention and twice in increased price of the product to pay for the ad. It's an arms race to get mind share and the only people who win are the arms dealers (advertising industry).

    42. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are many reasons not to like this, but don't think they could have made it any easier to disable.

      Simple I can make it zero steps. Don't turn it on. If it is a good feature, somebody will turn it on, spread the word, and people will turn it on themselves.

      Have you ever downloaded an app or extension that was for the primary purpose of suggesting sites based on your browsing history? I'd wager that 99.99% would not and have not willingly done such.

      Of course, if I want sites suggested, I go to a search engine and tell it what I fucking want.

      It is on because 90% won't know how or know better to turn it off. As someone who has to configure computers for the clueless, fuck you very much mozilla!

  5. Firefox becomes Netscape by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2

    Remember when the Netscape web browser cost $40? Remember buying one? Me neither.

    Looks like it's time to start uninstalling Firefox across all computers...

    1. Re:Firefox becomes Netscape by Wycliffe · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Remember when the Netscape web browser cost $40? Remember buying one? Me neither.

      Looks like it's time to start uninstalling Firefox across all computers...

      The world has changed a lot since then. I would gladly pay $40 for a good browser before I will put up with ads. I use
      my browser too much to put up with ads. Luckily, I don't have to as there are still several good free ones.

    2. Re:Firefox becomes Netscape by serviscope_minor · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Looks like it's time to start uninstalling Firefox across all computers...

      Yes, and install Chrome because that won't collect any of your data.

      Or, uncheck the option from the menu, which is admittedly much less fun than throwing a total shitfit.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    3. Re:Firefox becomes Netscape by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      False dichotomy.

      Why can't I throw a total shitfit AND uncheck the option from the menu?

    4. Re:Firefox becomes Netscape by sonamchauhan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      > The world has changed a lot since then. I would gladly pay $40 for a good browser
      Not really - you've just become richer :-P

    5. Re:Firefox becomes Netscape by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      mod parent up!

      Gave me a good laugh :)

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    6. Re:Firefox becomes Netscape by mrbester · · Score: 1

      Are you sure it won't keep collecting the data? All you are doing is saying you don't want the tiles to display, after all...

      --
      "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
    7. Re:Firefox becomes Netscape by mlts · · Score: 1

      I actually paid for Netscape because it was a good browser at the time.

      If the Mozilla Foundation needs cash, maybe a commercial browser may not be a bad idea, especially if it had enterprise level items like being able to be shipped as a .MSI, updated from an internal server like WSUS (not all internal machines have access to the Net in a lot of companies), offered GPO-like functionality to allow for insertion of internal keys, allowed for a recovery mechanism to the security key store, and so on.

      This may not mean much to the average consumer, but a supported browser version that can be managed by IT quite well might be a good revenue source, especially with it being platform independent.

      Similar with Thunderbird and SeaMonkey. Other than Outlook and mail.app, there are not many good MUAs out there these days. Eudora is dead, and the Bat and Lotus Notes are niche products. Having an alternative to Outlook might be a good thing for businesses, especially if enterprise level management/update functionality could be added in.

    8. Re:Firefox becomes Netscape by Wycliffe · · Score: 1

      > The world has changed a lot since then. I would gladly pay $40 for a good browser
      Not really - you've just become richer :-P

      Possibly, but that's not the real reason. The real reason is that I spend several hours every day
      using my browser. If I occasionally used my browser then ads would be no big deal but for something
      that I use for thousands of hours per year then $40 is a cheap price to pay. I have no problem paying
      for stuff that I spend a majority of my time using like my office chair, my bed, and yes, my browser.

    9. Re:Firefox becomes Netscape by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bingo. The checkbox just hides the ads, but the data collection is still going on in the background.

    10. Re:Firefox becomes Netscape by fafalone · · Score: 1

      It's that easy to disable for now. A few builds later it will be like turning off sending all sites/downloads to check for attack sites... several different options in the about:config page, at which point it's only available to the rather small percentage of users who would undertake that. I for one wasn't even aware Firefox sent every file I download to its servers first (the URL) until it automatically blocked and deleted (beyond reach of even file recovery software) a file that took 8 hours to download. And to top it all off, it was a RAR containing a video- how do you even get a false positive on non-executables like that?? Completely disabling all URL transmissions involved changing no less than 4 options only available in about:config. If Chrome wasn't so appalling in features not available, and features it had but were removed, I'd use that. AFAIC, there are no "good" browsers.

    11. Re:Firefox becomes Netscape by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > I would gladly pay $40 for a good browser before I will put up with ads

      that's what the cable fuckers told me in the 80s. pay for this shit pile and it will be ad free. that lasted all about 3 seconds. now it's a steaming pile that is choking to death from the culture smog that ads are. customers fleeing for less ad laden neighborhoods. good riddens to bad rubbish. hope the same happens to the web. i've been on the net since 1985. it worked much better back then kiddies. yeah, get the fuck off my net lawn.

      -- cracky old bastid.

    12. Re: Firefox becomes Netscape by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would happily pay $40 for a good, solid, simple, supported browser (Netscape never quite managed the good bit in my experience) that did only what it said on the label. No adds. No spying. No constant pointless changes. Nothing fancy. Just do the job, don't be evil and stay in the background so I can focus on the content.

      I expect you won't believe me there... you'll claim that what I think I want is not what I actually want, that given a choice I'll go with the add-laden free alternative, or that I'm in a tiny minority. Maybe you're right, maybe not, but I would love to be able to test my theory.

  6. Nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Firefox Advertising Mozilla
    Ads Based On Browsing History Are Coming To All Firefox Users

    Not all, only those who cannot disable them.

    1. Re:Nope by Thiez · · Score: 4, Informative
      TFA actually mentions

      * Note: if you set DNT=1, it is possible that you may not be receiving Suggested Tiles. You can very simply enable them on the new tab page with the cogwheel. We made the decision to opt users out of all sponsored Tiles experiences if they have DNT=1 quite early on, as we believe that most DNT early adopters are seeking to opt out of all advertising experiences. However, it’s important to understand that no tracking is involved in delivering Tiles.

    2. Re:Nope by Luthair · · Score: 1

      Is this referring to the new thing, or the thing they did with tiles a while ago? I have DNT set and saw the previous sponsored tile crap.

    3. Re:Nope by YukariHirai · · Score: 1

      It's nice that there is an option to disable it - even if it is indirect. But the fact that the "feature" is there at all still offends me. When the makers of a browser decide it's a good idea to turn my browsing history into targeted advertising, I decide a different browser is a good idea.

      I've been making less use of Firefox in general in recent years anyway, but this is the straw that broke the camel's back. Firefox gets uninstalled on all my machines.

    4. Re:Nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      However, it';s important to understand that no tracking is involved in delivering Tiles.

      Yet. They couldn't resist the money generated by displaying ads. What's to stop them from making even more money by enabling tracking later?

    5. Re:Nope by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Out of interest is your dislike for optional and easy to opt out of advertising (tracking) in Firefox meaning you're going to switch wholesale to Chrome?

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    6. Re:Nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you didn't... That was only slashdot.

    7. Re:Nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why should anyone have to "opt-out"? If you want to advertise to me, you need my permission BEFORE you do so. That means I must explicitly opt-in.

      IDK about OP, but I wouldn't switch to Chrome either. QupZilla or Midori are perfectly good choices though.

  7. IceCat by 0123456789 · · Score: 2

    And that might be the push needed for me to try out IceCat (formerly IceWeasel) https://www.gnu.org/software/g...

    1. Re:IceCat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IceCat is garbage. I download and tried to run it on three separate PCs and all it does is throw an error and crash.

    2. Re:IceCat by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      Did you create a new profile, or did you try to run IceCat over top of your Firefox browser profile? That IS one method to force a FF-like browser to crash.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    3. Re:IceCat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just downloaded it, extracted the archive and ran it. I'm not running it on top of anything, my Firefox is in a completely different location.

      If I look in the "Mozilla" appdata directory, I can see a "Firefox" and "icecat" subdirectories, each with their own separate profiles. Why is icecat even creating a subdir in the Mozilla dir?

    4. Re:IceCat by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      It creates that directory in the Mozilla directory because it's from Mozilla. And, it is probably using the same profile that Firefox uses.

      When running multiple versions of browsers that are related, you really need to create a separate profile for each of those browsers.

      If you should installl Chrome, then install SRware Iron Browser, the same thing will happen - Iron will use your Chrome profile.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    5. Re:IceCat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, as I said, it created its own profile. And the last I checked, IceCat was a GNU fork of Firefox, it is not a Mozilla product and therefore should not place its files in the same directory.

      And why is it that I can run Firefox and the Tor Browser (based on Firefox) without issue? Why can I run Chromium, Opera and QupZilla together without issue? None of them conflict with each other and none of them use the others' profiles.

      This is purely an IceCat bug.

  8. Respecting Privacy??? by Luthair · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How is taking our browser history to serve ads respecting our privacy?

    A search suggests they made $311 million in 2012, how much money is actually required to run Mozilla?

    1. Re:Respecting Privacy??? by jones_supa · · Score: 1

      That's the most interesting question actually. Mozilla is doing just fine, so why the need for advertisements, which generally are annoying?

    2. Re:Respecting Privacy??? by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      Greed. Pure Greed.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    3. Re:Respecting Privacy??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      A search suggests they made $311 million in 2012, how much money is actually required to run Mozilla?

      Considering their competitors in the browser sphere are two of largest tech companies in the world (Google and Apple), I'd say it takes quite a lot of money to be successful. I know some developers there and I've heard them complain about their inability to hire the numbers of developers they need, especially considering how much of a premium open source developers are these days.

      I'm not necessarily supporting this move, but the company definitely needs to improve their income so they aren't excessively reliant on a single company for their profits (currently, it's Yahoo).

    4. Re:Respecting Privacy??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought Mozilla was one of those anti-capitalist "we don't need no stinkin money" groups. Thats a hell of a profit for a free product.

    5. Re:Respecting Privacy??? by Luthair · · Score: 1

      Both Microsoft & Google have other far bigger projects that consume most of their resources. How many developers can you have actively working on a browser? Even 100 seems high.

    6. Re:Respecting Privacy??? by Dagger2 · · Score: 2

      For what it's worth: they don't take it. Your browser tracks your history (as it has always done, unless you've turned that off), and makes the decisions of which adverts to display locally.

      Mozilla can attempt to infer your browsing history from which adverts you load (and I've seen discussions about trying to reduce the amount of information they receive, although I don't know how much of that actually made it to the implementation), but they don't get a copy of it. Only your local browser gets that.

    7. Re:Respecting Privacy??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A search suggests they made $311 million in 2012, how much money is actually required to run Mozilla?

      Apparently, $311 million less than what they took in.

    8. Re:Respecting Privacy??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you actually read how it's implemented before you had your little rant?

      'cause the history doesn't leave your computer. At all. Mozilla doesn't get any of it.

    9. Re:Respecting Privacy??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's good to know, but they've still got to be sending a message like "send an ad matching keywords for X" or "send an ad related to site Y" somehow, which means although they don't have your detailed browser history they do have quite a bit of generic information. Do I really want them to send me advertisements for My Little Pony, furry costumes, or the latest innovation in STD treatment because they think I might be interested in those sorts of products?

      I mean, not that I would search for such things but some people might find it embarrassing if they did and a bunch of relevant advertisements start showing up. Some things might even be searched for or visited accidentally. People might have a typo in a search for "Mad Max: Furry Road", or someone might click on a random link without realizing what it is. Mozilla will know, just like Google, Bing, or whatever other site is mining our data these days, but having it embedded within the browser itself is pretty lame. At least if you type it into a search box you *know* you're sending information that could be collected and used. If you're using a web browser that means *everything* is potentially accessible.

      Bad idea.

  9. giving them control over their data. by rossdee · · Score: 1

    So this "feature" can be disabled by the user?

    Or should we just disable auto-update and stick with version 38.0.1

    1. Re:giving them control over their data. by Noryungi · · Score: 1

      See above: enable "Do Not Track" in the Firefox Options/Privacy tab and you are (hopefully) in the clear.

      --
      The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
    2. Re:giving them control over their data. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      So this "feature" can be disabled by the user?

      How do Tiles work? :: How do I turn it on/off? - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/how-do-tiles-work-firefox?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=how-do-sponsored-tiles-work#w_how-do-i-turn-it-onoff

      New Tab Page - show, hide and customize top sites :: How do I turn the New Tab page off? - https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/new-tab-page-show-hide-and-customize-top-sites#w_how-do-i-turn-the-new-tab-page-off

    3. Re:giving them control over their data. by gstoddart · · Score: 1

      Do Not Track is useless garbage.

      It doesn't stop any tracking. It's a voluntary program which doesn't mean what you think it means:

      Even if you have Do Not Track turned on, that information will be collected and stored and used to create a profile of you that may or may not be accurate. That profile can be used by credit agencies, big corporations, and health insurance companies to make decisions about you that can literally affect your life and livelihood.

      And it's not just the tracking industry that is ignoring the intent of Do Not Track.

      If Firefox is relying on a useless fucking setting like Do Not Track to disable this advertising, then they're assholes.

      Do Not Track is a complete lie in order to give the illusion corporations give a crap about your privacy or your wishes.

      Want to stop being tracked? Run every ad blocker and privacy extension you can find. Because relying on some marketing asshole to not track you anyway is just stupid.

      It's the piles and piles of third party shit on the internet embedded in every page which you need to be blocking.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    4. Re:giving them control over their data. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do Not Track has one benefit that won't effect many people but it'll help someone. Somewhere in a privacy lawsuit the person will be able to claim they told the company not to track them and the company refused to listen. This doesn't matter in USA, but other countries have stronger privacy laws and it does matter there.

    5. Re:giving them control over their data. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed. All Do Not Track does is let advertisers know that there are a pair of human eyes viewing the page. It's like responding to a spam email telling them to stop or answering a telemarketing call. It verifies that the email or telephone is live so they can spam you more.

    6. Re:giving them control over their data. by ravenlord_hun · · Score: 2

      You can disable it... until they disable those options in the name of "cleaning the UI". Then you're hosed.

  10. Easily defeated.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I keep 0 history. Soon as my browser closes, history is wiped. So if this simply looks at my history and serves me adds based on it, then hypothetically this would not work on my system.

    Of course if they look at other things (or FF stores info in some hidden super cookie) then I will be subject to adverts like everybody else.

    1. Re:Easily defeated.... by Noryungi · · Score: 1

      Use the Firefox plug-ins Ghostery, Privacy Badger, Self-destructing Cookies, and Better Privacy and everything will be pretty much wiped out.

      --
      The right to offend is far more important than the right not to be offended. (Rowan Atkinson)
    2. Re:Easily defeated.... by JMJimmy · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I keep 0 history. Soon as my browser closes, history is wiped. So if this simply looks at my history and serves me adds based on it, then hypothetically this would not work on my system.

      Of course if they look at other things (or FF stores info in some hidden super cookie) then I will be subject to adverts like everybody else.

      Are you sure about that? https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/s...

      It's been broken for some time. Install SQLite Manager addon to see what data is still lurking.

    3. Re:Easily defeated.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      or use bleachbit and really clean it up.

    4. Re:Easily defeated.... by JMJimmy · · Score: 1

      or use bleachbit and really clean it up.

      Yup, or DeepFreeze to prevent it in the first place.

    5. Re:Easily defeated.... by mlts · · Score: 1

      Or use a VM with snapshots or change logs, and when done, roll back all changes, so no matter how much the browser tries to stash, all gets eradicated.

      It also works well to deal with compromised browsers, especially if the VM is run in its own NAT segment, so the compromised instance can't gain knowledge of network topology.

    6. Re:Easily defeated.... by JMJimmy · · Score: 1

      That's just making what DeepFreeze does complicated. DeepFreeze will keep a computer in a specific state, allow temporary changes but the moment your system is rebooted the system is back to its frozen state. Use external/flash drives/network/etc for saving. If you do need to make a change (install a program, patch, etc) you just enter a password, install, then re-freeze.

      Far simpler than snapshots/rollbacks/etc. It doesn't provide the security you speak of but for day to day use that's not important.

    7. Re:Easily defeated.... by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      Don't use Ghostery: They sell data to ad companies

      Disconnect is one alternative.

    8. Re:Easily defeated.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All of that information about Ghostery is fully laid out on their official site. It's legit and there is nothing fishy about it. Ghostery continues to block everything unless you tell it not to.

      Your suggested replacement of Disconnect is crippleware. It costs $5/month if you want the full version. On the other hand, Ghostery is completely free.

  11. Yippee! It's about time! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    To paraphrase the late Roger Ebert, "I loved, loved, loved, loved your new feature", says a board full of /. posters.

  12. WTF by EmperorOfCanada · · Score: 3, Interesting

    How can they be respecting my privacy seeing that such a feature would require that they have access to my browsing history. Even if (in theory) they aren't downloading my browsing history and it is my browser making the requests they can deduce what sites I must be browsing to request such "suggestions."

    So if I mostly go to sites that involve sex with bowls of pasta and my browser were to request suggestions involving bowls of pasta porn it isn't much of stretch for them to guess what kind of sites I go to.

    This shit pisses me off. I already use a VPN to keep my ISP from this sort of interference. Now it is my damn browser ratting on me.

    How about a big fat no. Firefox already has a dropping market share and now it will drop by at least one more(me).

    Just to be clear as to how much I value my privacy and don't want tracking. I use a VM for all services that I log into that goes through a separate VPN. Thus my day to day surfing is 100% separate from anything that has any logins. So any cookies/IP address that facebook, google, etc might have handed to me aren't available during my general web surfing.

    I break zero laws yet I still want nobody tracking me as is my right.

    1. Re:WTF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I do not know what they do, but if they include the history analysis and list of which sites to propose, possibly including a small preview then they do not need to request any suggestions at all.
      That list of suggestions could even be updated and still work fine. Such an approach would have a certain scalability issues, but I don't see any privacy issues.
      So before getting all worked up, if you care so much I'd say it would be worth checking the facts if you already decided not to believe them?
      (Though I admit they should just have been clearer on what it does).

    2. Re:WTF by Luthair · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Why do you trust your VPN provider more than your ISP? Or your hosting provider if you're running your own VPN.

    3. Re:WTF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How can they be respecting my privacy seeing that such a feature would require that they have access to my browsing history

      You're not a politician, are you?

    4. Re:WTF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You make a good point about which ads get downloaded. I wonder if Mozilla has thought of this. They could avoid it by downloading a large "ad package" containing either all the ads or a subset of ads that includes sufficient variety to have something to display for any given browser history.

      I'm in two minds about this development. On the one hand, it's been obvious for a long time that Mozilla needs to diversify its income sources. On the other hand, I find it abhorrent that my web browser software itself should include advertisements.

      However, I've been looking out for alternative browsers anyway, since the Australis user interface was introduced, revealing an unsavoury, top-down design attitude that makes only token allowance for customisation. These advertisements might be the push I need to make a decision. (Mozilla: You are not Apple! You do not need to tightly control the entire user experience. You should not be attempting to do so. That is not your niche.)

    5. Re:WTF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do you trust your VPN provider more than your ISP? Or your hosting provider if you're running your own VPN.

      VPN at providers are generally not defacto monopolies, unlike ISPs in the US.

    6. Re:WTF by EmperorOfCanada · · Score: 1

      In a word, Yes. Plus the major ISPs in Canada pretty much have been caught doing traffic shaping, injections, and handing stuff over to the police willy nilly.

      My VPN has not. Plus an hour after they are caught I will be switching VPNs along with about 1 million of their other customers. A typical VPN customer is going to be more sophisticated plus very concerned with privacy and very prone to reacting quickly and negatively to this sort of thing.

      Therefore it would probably be priority number one to maintain our privacy even over a high quality service as I suspect if they sent me a letter saying, "We will be dropping speeds by 10% because we feel that we had to increase our crypto to something next gen." that most customers would nod and say, "Good."

    7. Re:WTF by EmperorOfCanada · · Score: 1

      Or ISPs in Canada. We have an election coming up with three parties in a dead heat. One is the Nazi party, one is a freedom loving party, and the third is a corrupt party that will spend its entire time in office giving the telcos a reach-around.

      Guess which party I am going to vote for.

    8. Re:WTF by Ben+Hutchings · · Score: 1

      Even if (in theory) they aren't downloading my browsing history and it is my browser making the requests they can deduce what sites I must be browsing to request such "suggestions."

      According to the bug report for this feature, the intent is that any suggestion would be triggered by multiple visited sites, so this wouldn't reveal exactly which sites you had visited. Still, it obviously does leak some information.

    9. Re:WTF by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [quote]I break zero laws[/quote]
      Wrong. You likely just don't know you break them.

      http://www.threefeloniesaday.c...

  13. Encouraging motion, they are. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow, they must really want people to switch to other browsers!

  14. Easy to turn off by jones_supa · · Score: 0

    Ok, I see some commentators in nerd rage already. Relax. If you don't want to see top sites when you make a new tab, Mozilla provides instructions to disable them. It's just a couple of mouse clicks.

    1. Re:Easy to turn off by jbeaupre · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Ok, I see some commentators in nerd rage already. Relax. If you don't want to see top sites when you make a new tab, Mozilla provides instructions to disable them. It's just a couple of mouse clicks

      If you don't like my foot up your ass, I can give you instructions to remove it.

      --
      The world is made by those who show up for the job.
    2. Re:Easy to turn off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doesn't stop the service from sending them your data, though ;)

    3. Re:Easy to turn off by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Informative

      Well, if they choose to make it opt-in, then awesome, no harm no foul, and only people who turn it on will have it.

      But when it is made opt-out, it says "fuck you, we'll track you unless you know enough to stop us".

      And it's that kind of behavior which really pisses us off. It shouldn't be up to the average user to have to know where to disable this crap.

      Just like they backed down on 3rd party cookies to keep the ad companies happy -- it's a sign that increasingly they're driven by money, instead of writing a good browser which doesn't have all of this shit in it.

      If they make this crap opt in, nobody will bitch at them. But they haven't. And we're pissed off.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    4. Re:Easy to turn off by jones_supa · · Score: 1

      Certainly agree with that point. A good application always checks with the user before enabling datamining or advertising features, or simply has them turned off by default.

    5. Re:Easy to turn off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The nerd rage is justified.

      If you don't want me to harvest you personal data to sell to companies, then yes please click the box that turns on the outta sight outta mind feature.

    6. Re:Easy to turn off by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      That would make a great bumper sticker. Even better, a bumper sticker on a police car.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    7. Re:Easy to turn off by mordred99 · · Score: 1

      In theory it is a couple of mouse clicks. The issue becomes how do you know? Without deep packet inspection you will never know what exactly your browser is sending to websites. The issue is not how trivial it is to turn it off, it is that now Mozilla as an organization is now in the ad business, taking my privacy is no longer a concern. The sheer fact that they are considering it means that my privacy has moved down the list of priorities for the foundation than functionality or user experience.

      There is a reason I don't use Chrome. I can tell you for a fact that even with every privacy based extension turned on for all sites, Chrome can still phone home to google and give it anything the coders want. I don't like that and refuse to use Chrome for that reason. Now that Firefox is going down that path by their actions, the trust is being broken. Once trust is gone, everything fades.

    8. Re:Easy to turn off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As well it should, because you know, there's a word for applications which does stuff like that without telling you... I'm sure people haven't forgotten about Gator, and how well liked it was.

    9. Re:Easy to turn off by gnupun · · Score: 1

      Isn't this what open source is all about, freedom? So take the source code and remove the data-collecting code and recompile. Otherwise, what good is open source?

    10. Re:Easy to turn off by marcosdumay · · Score: 1

      Point is, they are making it opt-out, but saying it won't track you. And you have the code, so they are probably honest (no doubt somebody will check).

      Yes, it does look bad. But no, it's not as bad as most people here are making it sound like.

    11. Re:Easy to turn off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If history repeats itself, the disable button exists for one release. Then the fabulous UX team decides that user is incapable of handling such buttons and the button is removed and feature is moved to about:config. And on next release the line in about:config is removed to ease maintenance.

    12. Re:Easy to turn off by ravenlord_hun · · Score: 1

      Don't forget to keep repeating this for every update, too. Hope you don't have a life/day job...

  15. Ok, but the real question is... by Eloking · · Score: 1

    I read "targeted ads". But are those new ads, or it replace the old ones?

    --
    Elok
    1. Re:Ok, but the real question is... by Barny · · Score: 5, Funny

      Then you didn't read. These tiles show up when you click 'new tab'.

      You will get a set of tiles that include your most viewed porn, porn you might like and sponsored porn that they hope you will be into.

      You can stop these porn tiles from appearing by simply telling it you want classic new tab, not enhanced porn edition.

      Of course this doesn't stop Mozilla from compiling a detailed list of your porn.

      --
      ...
      /me sighs
  16. Tabs ae bad enough! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If this cannot be completely disabled, it will drive users to other browsers. There are growing numbers of people who do not want ANY ads at all while web browsing. Since I PAY for my bandwidth and it is capped, I demand to completely control what I see while browsing. That includes NOT seeing ads! None at all!

    1. Re:Tabs ae bad enough! by Barny · · Score: 1

      There is a browser perfect for you!

      http://lynx.isc.org/current/

      --
      ...
      /me sighs
    2. Re:Tabs ae bad enough! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's only the 50,000th time that we've all heard that poor attempt at a joke, but it's still as fresh and uproariously funny as the first time.

      Actually, the graphical links brpwser, at http://links.twibright.com/, is about as simple as it gets -- and with no thought of intrusion or fluff. It doesn't do CSS, but if all one desires is content (and what more would one ever desire?) then it should make no difference.

    3. Re:Tabs ae bad enough! by Barny · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but I was actually researching text browsers a few days ago, so still had that link handy.

      I mean, you can actually get tabbed browsing with CSS and some javascript support in a text browser with http://elinks.or.cz/

      --
      ...
      /me sighs
  17. Delete history and cookies by houghi · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I delete all history and cookies and cache each time I log out. Although I like the technical aspect of tracing me and showing advertisement, as a consumer and user I detest it.

    I detest it more than I like it. Or like Banksy says:
    People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply youâ(TM)re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.

    You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.

    Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. Itâ(TM)s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

    You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially donâ(TM)t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, donâ(TM)t even start asking for theirs.

    --
    Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  18. read first, whina only when needed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Before any of you goes dipshit insane about the ads, read these:
    https://blog.mozilla.org/advancingcontent/2015/05/21/providing-a-valuable-platform-for-advertisers-content-publishers-and-users/
    https://blog.mozilla.org/privacy/2015/05/21/putting-our-data-privacy-principles-into-action/

    1. Re:read first, whina only when needed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No - ALL advertising is bad period.

    2. Re:read first, whina only when needed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ohh a blog posts with bloggy words. Yes I trust you now firefox, because you included buzz language in a blog post about how you're next update is going to invade our browsers with tracked advertisements, but its for the greater good!

    3. Re:read first, whina only when needed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only an acquiescing little shit would allow advertising. Grow a spine and then go get a real job so you can pay for stuff instead of having it ad sponsored.

      Broke motherfuckers like you are why the world is so full of these eyesores.

  19. A creepy form of advertising. by Ihlosi · · Score: 1

    On me, at least, it has the effect of making me less inclined to buy the advertised product.

    1. Re:A creepy form of advertising. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not just creepy. Say you've been on some sites your wife has no business knowing about. You switch to a news site when she walks in (no time to erase history), and suddenly an inappropriate ad pops up. She infers what you've been doing, divorce, life ruined.

  20. Just use version 25 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am using version 25.0 of FireFox for compatability reasons -- mostly so that I can continue to use the the Tree Style Tab (vertically arranged hierarchical tabs).

    1. Re:Just use version 25 by neo256 · · Score: 1

      Works just fine on this version too. 35.0
      I have to say however, I am not upgrading further, because of resource problems I have had. The newer version for some reason sometimes starts to use 1 cores maximum CPU usage, eventually hits over a GB of ram usage with just a couple of tabs in use and then starts lagging like crazy.

      I have similar problems at home with the newest build.

      But more on the Tree Style Tab. I just love it. I wish they would add that in as an option for large screen setup. That makes far better use of screen estate.

    2. Re:Just use version 25 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait, what? Does Tree Style Tab not work in more recent versions?

    3. Re:Just use version 25 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It does. I'm running it right now on 38.0.1.

  21. uTorrent. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I remember when uTorrent added optional ads a few years ago. It was very light and simple to remove if you didn't want to see it. Now, the entire program is full of ads. Not saying that it's a slippery slope, but if people accept this with open arms then more browsers might start doing this.

  22. Mozilla continues to sell its users to advertisers by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

    "With Suggested Tiles, we want to show the world that it is possible to do relevant advertising and content recommendations while still respecting users' privacy and giving them control over their data."

    First the advertisements will be optional. Then they won't be.

    .
    How long before the few remaining Firefox users realize that Mozilla is behaving like any other money-grabbing corporation?

  23. how far weve come. by nimbius · · Score: 5, Funny

    Mozilla 1998: we want the internet to remain a free and open forum and in this spirit align our software to freedom and the user. the users choice and voice will be come top priority in our products, and we will write the mozilla 10 point manifesto to ensure we always take this into account.
    Mozilla 2015: We want the internet to make payments on our car loans and help achieve the goal of replacing all 4 tires on the bentley twice a year. We believe, legitimately believe, that users want tiles to show them advertisements. we think they like having a video chat app in their browser and we want to make sure corporations understand what is possible when targeted advertising and a morally bankrupt moneytrain brand come together to abuse their users trust and appreciation. We are completely deaf to the fact that adblock and noscript exist and are extremely popular plugins for our hobbled shitwreck advertising platform masquerading as a browser. Hail satan.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:how far weve come. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They need to get paid.

      They already do get paid, child.

    2. Re:how far weve come. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be fair, Bentleys do go through tires very quickly.

    3. Re:how far weve come. by Microlith · · Score: 1

      I think you made a typo:

      Mozilla 2015: We want to continue to exist, and are currently dependent on a competitor.

      (Handful of noisy) Users 2015: WAHT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING! You can't survive, you have the stay unchanging and do exactly as we want without ever bothering us even if that means you go out of business. Oh fuck it I don't want you SPYING on me, you terrible people. I'm going to use Chrome!

    4. Re:how far weve come. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You made a typo as well:

      Microlith: LEAVE MOZILLA ALONE THEYRE A BUSINESS YOU CANNOT CRITICIZE GOOD HONEST CAPITALISM NOW TAKE IT AND LIKE IT PROLES

      Remaining (yet dwindling) FF users: They're making idiotic decisions and we're telling them this, but they don't listen so fuck them, I'm moving to a superior product.

    5. Re:how far weve come. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bullshit. I used phoenix for years before they had any money, it was a great browser back then. This is someone looking for resume bait and/or trying to burn money on ideas no one wants. AT best, it's the same stupid shit wikipedia does when they claim they need money (to fund unrelated projects) or they (those useless POS projects no one needs or wants) will die.

      Mozilla needs to lose funding. Mozilla Corp needs to go out of business. Only then will we actually be able to "take back the web."

    6. Re:how far weve come. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      err, you do realise there's other projects besides Firefox, upon which millions depend?
      Such as Thunderbird.
      And Firefox OS is doing nicely if it means they can get money from corporates who want to utilise it - such as Panasonic in their Smart TV's.

      But I agree, their central effort should be on Firefox, especially responsiveness (electrolysis and multi-process browsing first and foremost).

  24. Mozilla working hard to become extinct by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bad performance on multicore systems (locking problems still not investigated)

    e10s nowhere to be seen (and current extensions won't work)

    Servo still ages away

    So lets add ads or make the gui more crappy every release until our userbase is gone. Is this the plan?

  25. FORK MOTHERFUCKERS FORK! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    FORK or be a NORK!

    1. Re:FORK MOTHERFUCKERS FORK! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Open source means nothing if you can't understand the code. The FF code is mixture of hairballs and spaghetti where making simple changes is difficult unless you have experience of many years working on the codebase.

  26. Time for a Split by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's time for a Firefox split. LibrieOffice split, and is doing quite well.

  27. Re:Mozilla continues to sell its users to advertis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "With Suggested Tiles, we want to show the world that it is possible to do relevant advertising and content recommendations while still respecting users' privacy and giving them control over their data."

    First the advertisements will be optional. Then they won't be.

    .

    How long before the few remaining Firefox users realize that Mozilla is behaving like any other money-grabbing corporation?

    I haven't liked Firefox for some time now. But, I use it because it's the web browser I dislike the least.

  28. Pale Moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Works with all Firefox extensions and won't sell you out.

    palemoon.org

    1. Re:Pale Moon by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      Uhhhhh - no, it doesn't work with "all firefox extensions". Many, yes, all, no.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    2. Re:Pale Moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it doesn't work with as many websites as stock firefox either

  29. Ads need to go the way of the Dodo by Panther+Silverelf · · Score: 2

    Banner Ads, Pop-up ads, Tile Ads, whatever you want to call them, all need to go away. Ads are where a majority of the code that inflict malware on unsuspecting users comes from. Web marketing firms receive thousands, if not millions of new ads all the time. Do you really think they have someone or even a group of people that sit and look thru the underlying code of every single ad they receive? From the day that ads started showing up on sites I have refused to click on them or found tools to block them: ADP, Ghostery, Blur, etc. I even refuse to click the text ads that show up in google searches. Advertising is not a beneficial method to gain my interest in a product. At least not on the internet.

    1. Re:Ads need to go the way of the Dodo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But you'll gladly sign up for monthly subscriptions for substantial coin, right?

    2. Re:Ads need to go the way of the Dodo by gnupun · · Score: 1

      Even if you pay a monthly subscription, there will always be ads. See cable TV as an example.

    3. Re:Ads need to go the way of the Dodo by Panther+Silverelf · · Score: 1

      Ads on TV can't put malware on my computer or TV. And with the subscription comes a DVR which will allow you to fast forward thru the ads.

    4. Re:Ads need to go the way of the Dodo by betrayingme · · Score: 1

      Are there ads on Netflix? I'm serious, because I might be blocking them and not have noticed.

  30. The main reason I hate targeted ads.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is enough work already to take meticulous care not to let my family know how much porn I watch. But when they start making targeted ads based on my browsing history, it'll pretty much be impossible for me to hide it.

  31. Switch to a Mozilla Branch by CimmerianX · · Score: 2

    Palemoon is branched off of Mozilla. I use it and it works well.

    There are lots of options out there... you don't really need to stick with the Firefox vs chrome vs opera arguements.

    1. Re:Switch to a Mozilla Branch by t20alex · · Score: 0

      Plus one on Palemoon, I have been using it for years, and I love it. https://www.palemoon.org/

    2. Re:Switch to a Mozilla Branch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've been wanting to try out Palemoon for a while, but the OSX version has been in early development forever. Does anyone know if it will ever be released or why it's taking so long to port?

  32. Fuck Firefox! It's Over! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I guess I'm in a beta channel, though I didn't know it. I've had suggestion tiles for a while now. I was so pissed when the "sponsored" tiles showed up unannounced.

    Researching them showed me that you could turn them off. So I did, and I was moderately happy that I didn't see them anymore, but I felt that Mozilla was still collecting the data which angered me.

    Not many days later, I received an update and bam! The sponsored tiles were back. I turned them off again. Again, I got another update and the tiles were back on again. SO it seems that I can't actually turn them off as each time I do, Mozilla turns them back off.

    I find it especially ironic that one of the tiles advertises Mozilla's campaign against government monitoring with a blue tile; "is the U.S. government watching you?"

    Anyway... I suffered through the bloat, the slowness, the UI changes and forced upgrades that I didn't want because Mozilla was better and "respected my privacy". But since that has now turned into hypocritical lip service, Mozilla offers no advantage at all over Chrome which is faster, feels much lighter and I have no doubts about my lack of privacy.

    Fuck Firefox! It's over!

  33. Severe case of butthurt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Come on people really? ~100 comments of butthurts and whining. Guess who was paying the bills in Mozilla? Yes your beloved Google. They stopped. But bills are still coming, so.
    Most of you are acting like Firefox is your property or investment.
    FOSS != free of charge.

  34. antiCrapWare by yybnkakw · · Score: 1

    think I using no-script and not crappy FF, sad to know !

  35. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  36. stalker marketing by Presto+Vivace · · Score: 1

    expect it to get worse.

  37. Go SeaMonkey! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.seamonkey-project.org/

    All the web-rendering goodness of FireFox. Stable user interface. No suggested tiles. Available for Windows/Mac/Linux.

  38. Why I Refuse to Upgrade by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm still running LTS 10.0 (That's right) as it does exactly what I need, the only open security hole I've found still hadn't been fixed as of v:30.1 (blocked by noscript) and I don't like the direction they've been going. For an updated browser when I need it on Google, I use the Palemoon 64bit version and of course as I'm running WIn7, I have IE 10 available when I absolutely need it.

    I don't like the various html5 features that allow even more annoying adds (hell I block most in the hosts file - Thanks MPC for the start) along with having Noscript configured in "Deny All" as the default instead of the "Allow All" everyone seems to want. Fuck that - it's my system and I'll allow scripts and such where I absoluetly need them. Not where everyone says I must use them.

    It's gotten to the point that I'm no longer willing to use Linux due to the SystemD crap of a binary configuration - hell if I'm going to be forced to use that, then I'll simply run fucking Windows and have all the software I already have just work. Because of the crap about poorly designed features, I've begun looking into switching to FreeBSD - at least they have a solid engineering base and don't take the crap that has happened with SystemD due to their engineering team. Sorry Linus but you don't have the level of control needed to prevent System D hijacking the rest of the userland as it happens right now.

  39. No free lunch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm OK with some ads as long as they are not obtrusive and obnoxious. So as long as the ad tiles in Firefox do not have flashing images, annoying sounds, autoplaying videos, popups, popunders, images moving across the whole screen, etc., and do not distribute all my personal data to everyone who pays for it, I do not object. People who do good work need some way to pay to keep the lights on.

  40. Which part of No do you not understand? by Imagix · · Score: 1

    I don't know any _user_ that wants this. This pretty much guarantees that I won't have Firefox anywhere.

  41. Tiles? by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

    Never really found a use for them. I have every new tab and window show up as a blank page so this won't bother me at all though I'm sad to see them take this approach. It appears that they are trying to do everything in their power to alienate what users they have remaining. Might have to start looking into a good alternative browser for the Mac.

  42. Non-profit revenue streams by Ken_g6 · · Score: 2

    Firefox gets its revenue from ads. Whether directly or indirectly, through first Google, then Yahoo, and now directly. They never seem to have enough revenue.

    Wikipedia gets its revenue from donations. They occasionally have a beg bar at the top. They refuse to accept advertising. They always seem to have too much revenue.

    I, for one, would much prefer to have an occasional beg bar in my Firefox and no ads, rather than ads and no beg bar.

    --
    (T>t && O(n)--) == sqrt(666)
    1. Re:Non-profit revenue streams by Steve+Hamlin · · Score: 1

      Mozilla (as of their 2013 financial report) had $250 million in net assets, and during the year received $306 million in 'royalties' and spent $295 million ($200mm on software development, $45mm on branding/marketing, and $30mm on general admin).

      The Wikimedia Foundation (as of their 2014 financial report) had $54 million in net assets, and during the year received $50 million in donations/support and spent $46 million ($20mm on salaries, $20 mm on other, $5 mm on grants/awards. Only $3mm spent on hosting and service expenses).

      There is no reason that these entities require that kind of cash flow, and need to spend that much money. Non-profit =/= money spent efficiently or effectively, and the people running these entities have managed to get themselves a very sweet deal by controlling what should in all rights be a community-led structure, and dipping their greedy snout in the stream of cash flow.

      For those reasons alone, I refuse to support either of them. It is greed and control writ large.

      Sources:
      https://static.mozilla.com/moc...
      https://upload.wikimedia.org/w...

  43. Re:How about... you chill out? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Instructions are right here, few posts up.

    http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=7451877&cid=49750911

    a little harsh when all you need to do is change preference in about:config:

    browser.newtab.url to about:blank

    done and done. the whole 'smart' newtab page is gone for good. that is one of the very nice things about firefox....... configurability..

  44. Re:bye bye second that by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the sec you inject shit of any kind into what i as one of the 60 people that freed this damn code for the world into im droping your use....

    makes me sick that of the 60 or so of us that helped get the world free browsing , they are trying to wall you all in again

    THAT'S RIGHT FIREFOX I HELPED GET COMMINICATOR 5 OUT TO THE WORLD, AND YOU DISGUST ME ...

  45. Filtering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does anyone have a list of ip addresses / domaines, etc, that Firefox uses to do this kind of crap? Both the old sponsored tiles and this, as well as any other phone home stuff? I'd like to block this shit at the router. A quick search doesn't reveal much.

    I'd switch, but Firefox + noscript + adblock + request policy is the only thing that keeps the "modern" web usable and safe a on semi-secure linux box

  46. A sign of desperation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well I guess Firefox has finally caved big time to privacy. In the end the bottom line always trumps anything else. Of course for me this is a natural course of action.
    I never thought Mozilla had a valid business model and it was only Google that was propping up their broken model. Truth is, nothing wrong with open source but your products still have to make money. This ideal of being a model of volunteers and dedicated users is BS. No different then what Ubuntu had to do. Eventually because your products have to grow and expand you have to make revenue somehow. I wonder how many who will abandon Firefox now because of ads would have actually paid for Firefox in order to keep ads away? How many even gave a dime to Mozilla ever?

  47. Re:There was a time by ubergeek65536 · · Score: 1

    They only cure is to make sure that company doesn't get any of your money.

  48. Smuttested Tiles by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Suggested tiles will hereby be renamed as Smuttested tiles.

  49. COOL! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Will it be in Firefox v301 or v302?

  50. Who's the wise guy.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...who complained about not seeing enough ads while browsing????

  51. You've missed the point, this is huge for privacy by guanxi · · Score: 3, Informative

    All the people complaining are missing the point: Adverstising is inevitable, and today advertising comes with massive privacy violations (especially tracking). Mozilla is developing a way to enable advertising without the privacy violations. If they succeed, imagine the dramatic increase in your privacy if vendors can deliver ads without tracking.

    From TFA:

    Mozilla is making a bold promise. âoeWith Suggested Tiles, we want to show the world that it is possible to do relevant advertising and content recommendations while still respecting usersâ(TM) privacy and giving them control over their data.â

    And this is not just superficial security; they have really thought it through. For one thing, your browser history and the analytics that determine what ads to display stay on your computer. For more examples:

    Because delivering such content to Firefox users can result in privacy issues, Mozilla has taken three steps to limit what information it collects:

    1. A system of rules in place to limit what Mozilla or its partners can infer about users based on Tiles data. Each interest category must have a minimum of 5 URLs. Interest categories are constructed such that no single URL is significantly more likely to appear in a userâ(TM)s browsing history than any other URL in the category. Suggested Tiles also cannot be triggered based on combinations of URLs in the interest category.

    2. While Tiles partners can suggest URLs to include, the companyâ(TM)s Content Services team actually defines the interest categories. A separate role on the team, which isnâ(TM)t involved in creating the interest categories, approves the final categories. Furthermore, interest categories are publicly available, stating the label of the bucket and the collection of URLs specified against it. The current interest categories are available in the source code here.

    3. IP addresses are discarded within 7 days of collection and no other unique IDs associated with Tiles are collected. Only one Suggested Tile is included per new tab page, which prevents impression data from providing a more complete portrait of the userâ(TM)s history. Reports containing aggregate impression and click data (number of impressions, clicks, and so on) are only shared with partners. No individual data is provided to advertising clients.

    For more, see these lnks:
    https://blog.mozilla.org/priva...
    https://blog.mozilla.org/advan...

  52. Finally beats Internet Explorer! by penguinoid · · Score: 1

    Remember the days when your system could get p0wned the first time you visited a website in Internet Explorer? Well, thanks to technological advances by the Mozilla Corporation, you can now get p0wned by malware embedded in ads before you visit any website!

    --
    Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
  53. Chrome... by Vrallis · · Score: 1

    Damnit, Google, finish adding Firefox-style tabs so I can ditch that piece of shit already.

    1. Re:Chrome... by multimediavt · · Score: 1

      Damnit, Google, finish adding Firefox-style tabs so I can ditch that piece of shit already.

      As several have already said, "Yeah, because Google doesn't track your browsing history and target you with ads through Chrome." DUH!

  54. FF has given up on being the safe choice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This post prompted me to do some digging into FF privacy practices. This organization is not the safe haven for pure internet browsing that I once thought it to be. Check out https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1012123 to see how FF essentially tracks everything you do and never cedes its ability to harvest your information.

    Also, for a number of months FF was scanning private IP blocks to supports it webRTC Hello feature, without providing any way to disable.

    Cannot do Chrome. Cannot do FF. Does this actually make Explorer look like a good choice? Havent used Opera in years.

  55. Not just no ads, but had content by mx+b · · Score: 1

    I miss being able to do a google search, and the first few hits were generally exactly what I wanted.

    Yeah yeah, I know, "use google-fu", but it doesn't really work anymore, not as well as it used to. The marketing droids and advertisers have their whole SEO thing now where they're actively out to cheat google to get you to browse to their crappy blog or whatever instead. Searching for anything technical gives you the first few pages of marketing blogs that copy-paste each other's heavily buzzword-laden summary, squelching the actual reporter or researcher that has real information.

    It is obnoxious. I've day dreamed of making a TLD (.awesome or something) that has one specific requirement -- anyone can register a domain as long as you sign an agreement that you will NEVER DISPLAY ADS. Well maybe, a couple other requirements to try to cut down on the copy-paste news cycle. But generally speaking, if you search only .awesome addresses, you know you're getting legit content. That's what I want. That's what I could do in the early days of the internet. The internet has been destroyed by rampant greed and commericalism. I want those early days of hackers (in the sense of open source contributors, not malicious ones), professors and enthusiasts to come back. Do I just not know where to find them online anymore?

  56. already switched to Pale Moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I switched to Pale Moon when the tie in to Google came out, I was getting pretty tired of the constant destruction of the user interface in the name of new and improved anyway so I was already looking for alternatives. Firefox used to be a shining light in the wilderness, now, not so much. We'll see how long Pale Moon lasts against the new and improved bunch. Replaced Thunderbird too for similar reasons.

  57. The incentives from actual choice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If word gets out that your VPN provider is messing with you, you easily switch to a different VPN provider.

    If word gets out that your ISP is messing with you, you easily switch to OH WAIT both ISPs in your area do it.

  58. Comparing proprietors is not freedom. by jbn-o · · Score: 1

    So you're switching away from a browser that is still Free Software (which provides the ultimate configurability), the basis of variants (GNU IceCat, for example) that make it more convenient to respect your software freedom by only showing you Free addons by default, for a proprietary browser. And then you're getting lost in the weeds by debating the purported merits of one proprietor over another (Google vs. Opera) where you know so little about both such comparisons pale to what you give up by choosing any proprietary software.

    I'd rather keep my software freedom, run more Free Software, and enjoy the wide variety of Free Software addons to help me keep browser privacy (NoScript, Priv3+, disabling Javascript-based clipboard manipulations, browser ID spoofing, and so on).

    1. Re:Comparing proprietors is not freedom. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are the ads you get also considered "free software"? Because I don't get any in my "proprietary software".

      I use the best software for the job I need to do. Whether it's open or closed source is of zero concern to me. Simply being "open source" is not a selling point.

  59. Million dollar super-star athlete salaries by blind+biker · · Score: 1

    > Where do you think the million dollar super-star athlete salaries come from? Advertising.

    This is provably not generally true. It depends a lot on the type of sport, but sponsorship money can be just a fraction of a pro athlete's income (whereas the majority could come from pay-per-view or ticket sales), or it can be a substantial part. Take Floyd Mayweather - the extraordinarily high paydays he makes come for the most part from PPV. No, I am not one who would pay to watch pro boxing, especially not Mayweather, but there are tens of millions who do.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  60. Pale Moon by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

    https://www.palemoon.org/

    Click the link, and read. Browse the forum. They are very upfront about the fact that they are NOT Firefox, haven't been for some time, and never will be again. I think that fits the definition of "fork".

    --
    "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
  61. Ads & Browser History by SenseiTim · · Score: 1

    I certainly hope that Adblock Plus https://addons.mozilla.org/en-... will control this nonsense. I WILL NOT LOOK AT ADS IN MY BROWSER!

  62. Way to simplify it by aepervius · · Score: 1

    "But it's two-year-old level childish thinking at it's finest to think you can get all the free and subsidized stuff out here in the world without the advertising"

    Well how about a subscription or money ? I value my privacy and not getting advertising more than anything else.

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
    1. Re:Way to simplify it by dmgxmichael · · Score: 1

      Well how about a subscription or money ? I value my privacy and not getting advertising more than anything else.

      Nothing irks me more than the double whammy of paying for something and having to put up with ads anyway.

      Ads also don't need to involve privacy violations. Billboards don't. TV Spots don't. Why should web ads be any different? Personally I'd like to see client-side tracking scripts made illegal. Server-side gets more information than you really need anyway - IP address, user-agent strings. Click thru tracking just uses parameters on the URI itself so there's nothing personally identifiable. Those incidentally are the only tracking methods we're using, for what it's worth.

  63. Advertising based on browsing history by SmaryJerry · · Score: 1

    Advertising based on browsing history is the worst kind of advertising. All it is, is advertisements for the same product you already bought when you searched for it 2 weeks ago. Seriously, it's almost like recommendations on youtube. Youtube, I just watched 30 minutes of fail videos but I don't want to watch them again every day of my life, thanks.

  64. Re:There was a time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But then I actually have to pay attention to the ads, in order to make a note of which companies to boycott!
    Plus some of them are major national retailers that are fairly difficult to avoid without major inconvenience. I will not be aware of any alternative retailers, having not seen any ads for them!

  65. Stop Firefox from making automatic connections. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://support.mozilla.org/en...

    If you have addons, you need to disable automatic updates also.

    Are there not any projects to make a light weight browser? I'll pay for it gladly.

    Firefox is out. Bye Bye. Uninstall.
    All mozilla sites mapped to 127.0.0.1

    So long and thanks for the ride.

  66. Contacting my lawyer now by Dishwasha · · Score: 1

    I'm ready to get rich off the Firefox foundation the second my underage child gets an ad for an adult only site.

    1. Re:Contacting my lawyer now by ShaunC · · Score: 1

      Step 1: Turn on "NBC Nightly News" any weeknight at 6:30PM ET
      Step 2: Wait for the penis pill commercials and the painful vaginal intercourse after menopause commercials to come on
      Step 3: ???
      Step 4: Profit!

      --
      Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
  67. Feedback: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    F-Off. Targeted ads are creepy and you're creepy for wanting them.

  68. Re:You've missed the point, this is huge for priva by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mozilla could do more to make sure users are aware of the principled pragmatism that underlies this feature.

    I could get behind it a bit more if they can develop it into a mechanism for third party web pages to use to present their advertising. That could provide a valuable and diverse revenue stream for Mozilla while also providing a way for conscientious website owners to earn ad revenue without having to compromise on their users' privacy.

  69. No Extensions, Horrible Tab Stacks by CrashNBrn · · Score: 1

    I hope Vivaldi gets to a usable state, but I really doubt it will wind up where I was hoping Opera 13 might of gone. You still can't use (most) extensions, and it looks like their plan for tabs are singular stacks, which are damned near useless once you get used to the freedom and functionality of Tree Style Tabs. Sidewise for Chrome/Opera comes close, but has so many quirks and issues as it has to run in a separate window.

  70. ok, whatever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sounds like it will save a lot of work. Now you don't have to load a website and scroll all the way to the bottom to find out the latest trick to pay off your mortgage and how much a local mom can earn!

    Either that or 8 ads from 6 different stores for the TV I just bought, which seems to be a standard for 'targeted' ads :/

    How about a switch for sites I might not be interested in? Probably much more interesting, lol.

  71. Re:You've missed the point, this is huge for priva by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All the people complaining are missing the point: Adverstising is inevitable,

    Bullshit.

    It's an open source product. It was not developed for advertisers. It was developed in spite of advertisers (as a fork to oppose the crap that AOL-branded Netscape had become), not for them.

    Fuck off, Mozilla. A web browser is not, and never should be, "a platform for advertisers."

  72. From the Depths of Hades I shall Spit at Thee! by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    (obligatory Star Trek reference)

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:From the Depths of Hades I shall Spit at Thee! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's "from hell's heart I stab at thee" and it's from Moby Dick. Unless the Klingons want to claim that, too.

  73. Re:You've missed the point, this is huge for priva by multimediavt · · Score: 1

    If you believe the privacy and security claims of a large corporation whose sole purpose is to make a profit, then you just haven't been paying attention to the real world. You can also take the "advertising is inevitable" crap and shove it back where it belongs. There is enough connectivity between people these days through social media that advertising as we know it should go away! If something is worth buying then you will find reviews for it somewhere or find out about it through word of mouth. There are plenty of product driven companies that don't do any advertising at all that are doing just fine. Some are more than a century old!

  74. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  75. Another nail in the coffin by jbssm · · Score: 1

    Like if people needed yet another reason to ditch Firefox for Chrome. Only thing that kept in in Firefox these last 2 years was tab management (which true is much better in Firefox), but all the rest was so far behind Chrome (speed and the current crashes and halts in some pages... Amazon for instance which is widely reported) that I took the plunge and learned to live with without the tab management system.

  76. Bah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mozilla adding ads to tiles sucks but running a company is not free and even if they do add tile ads there's nothing to stop you from replacing that new tab or launch page. FVD and Super Start are both far superior new tab/launch pages.

    If you really want to help stop this kind of shit donate to Mozilla instead of complaining about a free product that's not free to maintain.

  77. Feigned outrage of the day... by gbcox · · Score: 1

    It's all about transparency folks... and Mozilla is telling everybody exactly what they are doing... Same thing with Google... they post ad nauseum about what they are doing, and people still vibrate in place with outrage. If you don't want to use the product don't. No one is forcing you. The hilarious thing is people go on using Facebook and most of the time FB just does things without telling anyone until after the fact. People gripe about it but the number of FB customers keep growing at a healthy clip. Don't get me started on the shenanigans Microsoft pulls; and as far as yahoo is concerned their mail service is extremely distracting IMO with the way the ads pop up and flash, blink, etc.

  78. Yet another good reason by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

    To NOT use Firefox.

    --
    http://www.acetonestudio.com
  79. time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    time for another fork. ice weasel?

    1. Re:time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's called Seamonkey. It also contains no Australis.

  80. Breaks other add-ons? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have a local HTML file with links to all my frequently used websites as my homepage, And an add-on that automatically loads this local HTML file on new tabs. Will that still work?

  81. They drank the Kool Aid and no longer speak Human by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "WE made the decision to OPT USERS OUT of all sponsored Tiles experiences if they have DNT=1 quite early on, as we believe that most DNT early adopters are seeking to opt out of all advertising experiences. "

    They decided to OPT EVERYONE ELSE IN because they believe that everyone else is seeking to OPT IN to the Firefox advertising experience???

    So, Mozilla opts us in based on THEIR beliefs and opts us out based on THEIR beliefs instead of just asking us in the first place. Yet they claim this is about respect for our privacy and choice!

    Real folks know that "Do Not Track" means "Do not follow me around recording what I do." But Mozilla, as the surveillance marketing industry tried to formally define it, thinks "Do Not Track" means "Track me but don't let me know you're doing it by showing me ads that creep me out."

  82. Who cares, you can just turn them off. by Phaid · · Score: 1

    Tiles are nothing new; I immediately found them annoying and have always turned them off. These new "sponsored" tiles will only appear on the existing tiles page, which can still be turned off:

    When you first launch Firefox, a message on the new tab page informs you what tiles are (with a link to a support page about how sponsored tiles work), promises that the feature abides by the Mozilla Privacy Policy, and reminds you that you can simply turn tiles off. If you do turn them off, you’ll get a blank new tab page and will avoid Firefox’s ads completely, including these upcoming suggested tiles.

    So, it really doesn't matter.

  83. ha that will be the day by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I like firefox and will miss it. But no. There will be no custom advertising for me.

    Once they start messing with you personally, the last fair deal has gone down. When they know you really need x, no one is going to sell it to you for less than double the usual price.

  84. Re:There was a time by marcosdumay · · Score: 1

    Yes, at that time websites also didn't have images, and about nobody could get to see one.

    The images are Netscape fault, but I'd disagree about the ads. Are you blaming them on Netscape because of Javascript? If so, well, Javascript is indeed something Netscape must be ashamed for, but if they didn't do it somebody else would have done something worse (AKA VBScript).

    Anyway, the web has ads because there are enough people to see them. Remove the people and the ads will go away, but there's nothing you can change on the software stack that'll get ride of them.

  85. AdBlock = Inferior + 'Souled-Out'... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can adblock variants & ghostery do 16 things hosts do for speed, security, & reliability:

    1.) Protect vs. malicious sites (beyond malicious ads)
    2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    3.) Protect vs. dynamic dns botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    5.) Protect vs. downed DNS (reliability)
    6.) Protect vs. DNS redirect poisoned dns
    7.) Protect vs. trackers
    8.) Protect vs. spam
    9.) Protect vs. phishing
    10.) Protect vs. bandwidth caps
    11.) Get you by a dnsbl
    12.) Keep you off dns request logs
    13.) Speed up surfing by adblocks & hardcoded fav. sites
    14.) Work on any webbound app (e.g. stand-alone email programs) multiplatform.
    15.) Give you easily texteditor controlled data for the above
    16.) Block ads more efficiently in cpu cycles + memory use vs. addons

    * ANSWER ="NO" to each on AdBlock or Ghostery doing all that let alone well!

    APK

    P.S.=> Addons do FAR less than hosts do & FAR less efficiently - hosts by way of comparison, do MORE w/ less + Hosts start w/ the IP stack before REDUNDANT inefficient addons BEGIN to operate (as 1st resolver queried):

    AdBlock's 4++gb & 100% CPU usage flooring inefficiency -> https://blog.mozilla.org/nneth... + ClarityRay defeats it + it 'souled-out' & is crippled by default paid off to not do its job http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/... & ABP too http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...

    Ghostery (Advertiser owned) - "Fox guards henhouse" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G...

    Addons add complexity/room for breakdown/exploit + from a slower mode of operations (usermode = more messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode).

    For the BEST hosts file?

    APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    ... apk

  86. AdBlock = Inferior + 'Souled-Out'...apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can adblock variants or ghostery do 16 things hosts do for speed, security, & reliability:

    1.) Protect vs. malicious sites (beyond malicious ads)
    2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    3.) Protect vs. dynamic dns botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    5.) Protect vs. downed DNS (reliability)
    6.) Protect vs. DNS redirect poisoned dns
    7.) Protect vs. trackers
    8.) Protect vs. spam
    9.) Protect vs. phishing
    10.) Protect vs. bandwidth caps
    11.) Get you by a dnsbl
    12.) Keep you off dns request logs
    13.) Speed up surfing by adblocks & hardcoded fav. sites
    14.) Work on any webbound app (e.g. stand-alone email programs) multiplatform.
    15.) Give you easily texteditor controlled data for the above
    16.) Block ads more efficiently in cpu cycles + memory use vs. addons

    * ANSWER ="NO" to each on AdBlock or Ghostery doing all that let alone well!

    APK

    P.S.=> Addons do FAR less than hosts do & FAR less efficiently - hosts by way of comparison, do MORE w/ less + Hosts start w/ the IP stack before REDUNDANT inefficient addons BEGIN to operate (as 1st resolver queried):

    AdBlock's 4++gb & 100% CPU usage flooring inefficiency -> https://blog.mozilla.org/nneth... + ClarityRay defeats it + it 'souled-out' & is crippled by default paid off to not do its job http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/... & ABP too http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...

    Ghostery (Advertiser owned) - "Fox guards henhouse" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G...

    Addons add complexity/room for breakdown/exploit + from a slower mode of operations (usermode = more messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode).

    For the BEST hosts file?

    APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    ... apk

  87. AdBlock = Inferior + 'Souled-Out'... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can adblock variants or ghostery do 16 things hosts do for speed, security, & reliability:

    1.) Protect vs. malicious sites (beyond malicious ads)
    2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    3.) Protect vs. dynamic dns botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    5.) Protect vs. downed DNS (reliability)
    6.) Protect vs. DNS redirect poisoned dns
    7.) Protect vs. trackers
    8.) Protect vs. spam
    9.) Protect vs. phishing
    10.) Protect vs. bandwidth caps
    11.) Get you by a dnsbl
    12.) Keep you off dns request logs
    13.) Speed up surfing by adblocks & hardcoded fav. sites
    14.) Work on any webbound app (e.g. stand-alone email programs) multiplatform.
    15.) Give you easily texteditor controlled data for the above
    16.) Block ads more efficiently in cpu cycles + memory use vs. addons

    * ANSWER ="NO" to each on AdBlock or Ghostery doing all that let alone well!

    APK

    P.S.=> Addons do FAR less than hosts do & FAR less efficiently - hosts by way of comparison, do MORE w/ less + Hosts start w/ the IP stack before REDUNDANT inefficient addons BEGIN to operate (as 1st resolver queried):

    AdBlock's 4++gb & 100% CPU usage flooring inefficiency -> https://blog.mozilla.org/nneth... + ClarityRay defeats it + it 'souled-out' & is crippled by default paid off to not do its job http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/... & ABP too http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...

    Ghostery (Advertiser owned) - "Fox guards henhouse" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G...

    Addons add complexity/room for breakdown/exploit + from a slower mode of operations (usermode = more messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode).

    For the BEST hosts file?

    APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    ... apk

  88. Fork them! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's the beauty of Firefox. If you don't like it, FORK it! Or just don't update, but that comes with risks of its own.

    Remember Firefox WAS Netscape, and NCSA Mosaic before that. What will it be next, now that its creators have gone over to greed's dark-side, and decided to compromise users by being a source for the thing people hate the most on the internet?

    Hate the most? Yep. Here's what denizens of the interwebs hate the most, in order:
    1. ADS
    This has so many sub-categories that I'll just use this one general catch-all. Includes flashing, seizure-inducing multicolor banners, punch the monkey, and e-mailed SPAM, etc.
    2. Adolph Hitler
    He'd be higher on the list, but there're a LOT of Neo-Nazis who love him on the net, plus all the people who pretend to hate him but who use his name and memory and to whom, therefore, he's too useful to hate as much as he otherwise could be hated.

    This is a function of the nature of the internet. Conversations can go OOOOONNNNN on the internet for far longer than in real life. A corollary of Godwin's law is that if conversations in real life went on as long as they do on the internet, the law would apply to them TOO. If cocktail parties and conversations at them ran for days, weeks, or even months, eventually, SOMEONE would, in any conversation, bring up the Nazi's, or Hitler.

    That's right, internet users hate ADVERTISEMENTS more than they hate Adolf Hitler, and now the folks at Mozilla who brought you Firefox are about to shoe-horn ADVERTISEMENTS down your throat at every opportunity.

    What NAZI'S!

    So yeah, all kidding aside, time to FORK Firefox. Shall we hold a naming contest?

    Right out of the gate, I vote for FireFORK
    #FORK-ADS!

  89. AdBlockPlus = 'Souled-Out' + Inferior... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can adblock variants or ghostery do 16 things hosts do for speed, security, & reliability:

    1.) Protect vs. malicious sites (beyond malicious ads)
    2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    3.) Protect vs. dynamic dns botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    5.) Protect vs. downed DNS (reliability)
    6.) Protect vs. DNS redirect poisoned dns
    7.) Protect vs. trackers
    8.) Protect vs. spam
    9.) Protect vs. phishing
    10.) Protect vs. bandwidth caps
    11.) Get you by a dnsbl
    12.) Keep you off dns request logs
    13.) Speed up surfing by adblocks & hardcoded fav. sites
    14.) Work on any webbound app (e.g. stand-alone email programs) multiplatform.
    15.) Give you easily texteditor controlled data for the above
    16.) Block ads more efficiently in cpu cycles + memory use vs. addons

    * ANSWER ="NO" to each on AdBlock or Ghostery doing all that let alone well!

    APK

    P.S.=> Addons do FAR less than hosts do & FAR less efficiently - hosts by way of comparison, do MORE w/ less + Hosts start w/ the IP stack before REDUNDANT inefficient addons BEGIN to operate (as 1st resolver queried):

    AdBlock's 4++gb & 100% CPU usage flooring inefficiency -> https://blog.mozilla.org/nneth... + ClarityRay defeats it + it 'souled-out' & is crippled by default paid off to not do its job http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/... & ABP too http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...

    Ghostery (Advertiser owned) - "Fox guards henhouse" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G...

    Addons add complexity/room for breakdown/exploit + from a slower mode of operations (usermode = more messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode).

    For the BEST hosts file?

    APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    ... apk

  90. AdBlock & Ghostery = Inferior + 'Souled-Out' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can adblock variants or ghostery do 16 things hosts do for speed, security, & reliability:

    1.) Protect vs. malicious sites (beyond malicious ads)
    2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    3.) Protect vs. dynamic dns botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    5.) Protect vs. downed DNS (reliability)
    6.) Protect vs. DNS redirect poisoned dns
    7.) Protect vs. trackers
    8.) Protect vs. spam
    9.) Protect vs. phishing
    10.) Protect vs. bandwidth caps
    11.) Get you by a dnsbl
    12.) Keep you off dns request logs
    13.) Speed up surfing by adblocks & hardcoded fav. sites
    14.) Work on any webbound app (e.g. stand-alone email programs) multiplatform.
    15.) Give you easily texteditor controlled data for the above
    16.) Block ads more efficiently in cpu cycles + memory use vs. addons

    * ANSWER ="NO" to each on AdBlock or Ghostery doing all that let alone well!

    APK

    P.S.=> Addons do FAR less than hosts do & FAR less efficiently - hosts by way of comparison, do MORE w/ less + Hosts start w/ the IP stack before REDUNDANT inefficient addons BEGIN to operate (as 1st resolver queried):

    AdBlock's 4++gb & 100% CPU usage flooring inefficiency -> https://blog.mozilla.org/nneth... + ClarityRay defeats it + it 'souled-out' & is crippled by default paid off to not do its job http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/... & ABP too http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...

    Ghostery (Advertiser owned) - "Fox guards henhouse" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G...

    Addons add complexity/room for breakdown/exploit + from a slower mode of operations (usermode = more messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode).

    For the BEST hosts file?

    APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    ... apk

  91. Ghostery = Inferior + 'Souled-Out'... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can adblock variants or ghostery do 16 things hosts do for speed, security, & reliability:

    1.) Protect vs. malicious sites (beyond malicious ads)
    2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    3.) Protect vs. dynamic dns botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    5.) Protect vs. downed DNS (reliability)
    6.) Protect vs. DNS redirect poisoned dns
    7.) Protect vs. trackers
    8.) Protect vs. spam
    9.) Protect vs. phishing
    10.) Protect vs. bandwidth caps
    11.) Get you by a dnsbl
    12.) Keep you off dns request logs
    13.) Speed up surfing by adblocks & hardcoded fav. sites
    14.) Work on any webbound app (e.g. stand-alone email programs) multiplatform.
    15.) Give you easily texteditor controlled data for the above
    16.) Block ads more efficiently in cpu cycles + memory use vs. addons

    * ANSWER ="NO" to each on AdBlock or Ghostery doing all that let alone well!

    APK

    P.S.=> Addons do FAR less than hosts do & FAR less efficiently - hosts by way of comparison, do MORE w/ less + Hosts start w/ the IP stack before REDUNDANT inefficient addons BEGIN to operate (as 1st resolver queried):

    AdBlock's 4++gb & 100% CPU usage flooring inefficiency -> https://blog.mozilla.org/nneth... + ClarityRay defeats it + it 'souled-out' & is crippled by default paid off to not do its job http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/... & ABP too http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...

    Ghostery (Advertiser owned) - "Fox guards henhouse" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G...

    Addons add complexity/room for breakdown/exploit + from a slower mode of operations (usermode = more messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode).

    For the BEST hosts file?

    APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    ... apk

  92. Ghostery's Inferior + 'Souled-Out'... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can adblock variants or ghostery do 16 things hosts do for speed, security, & reliability:

    1.) Protect vs. malicious sites (beyond malicious ads)
    2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    3.) Protect vs. dynamic dns botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    5.) Protect vs. downed DNS (reliability)
    6.) Protect vs. DNS redirect poisoned dns
    7.) Protect vs. trackers
    8.) Protect vs. spam
    9.) Protect vs. phishing
    10.) Protect vs. bandwidth caps
    11.) Get you by a dnsbl
    12.) Keep you off dns request logs
    13.) Speed up surfing by adblocks & hardcoded fav. sites
    14.) Work on any webbound app (e.g. stand-alone email programs) multiplatform.
    15.) Give you easily texteditor controlled data for the above
    16.) Block ads more efficiently in cpu cycles + memory use vs. addons

    * ANSWER ="NO" to each on AdBlock or Ghostery doing all that let alone well!

    APK

    P.S.=> Addons do FAR less than hosts do & FAR less efficiently - hosts by way of comparison, do MORE w/ less + Hosts start w/ the IP stack before REDUNDANT inefficient addons BEGIN to operate (as 1st resolver queried):

    AdBlock's 4++gb & 100% CPU usage flooring inefficiency -> https://blog.mozilla.org/nneth... + ClarityRay defeats it + it 'souled-out' & is crippled by default paid off to not do its job http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/... & ABP too http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...

    Ghostery (Advertiser owned) - "Fox guards henhouse" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G...

    Addons add complexity/room for breakdown/exploit + from a slower mode of operations (usermode = more messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode).

    For the BEST hosts file?

    APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    ... apk

  93. Get FUCKED. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You've officially pushed me to abandoning you completely this time, Mozilla. Probably a lot of others as well, judging by the comments here...and it's ENTIRELY justified. You've shot yourselves in the feet so many times with respect to Firefox that the company has nothing left below the knees at this point. You had a chance to start fresh and re-invent the browser as a light, functional speed-demon designed to protect user privacy...now it's a bloated mess and you're going to scan browser histories to target ads at end-users?

    Good fucking riddance. You've been chasing Google's coat-tails for 5+ years trying to be Chrome and failing miserably, I officially now have no reason not to switch.

  94. Best Firefox alternative? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not a fan of chrome. Has opera improved to the point of usability yet?

    tia

  95. AdBlock = Inferior + 'Souled-Out'... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can adblock variants or ghostery do 16 things hosts do for speed, security, & reliability:

    1.) Protect vs. malicious sites (beyond malicious ads)
    2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    3.) Protect vs. dynamic dns botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets + stop communique to C&C servers
    5.) Protect vs. downed DNS (reliability)
    6.) Protect vs. DNS redirect poisoned dns
    7.) Protect vs. trackers
    8.) Protect vs. spam
    9.) Protect vs. phishing
    10.) Protect vs. bandwidth caps
    11.) Get you by a dnsbl
    12.) Keep you off dns request logs
    13.) Speed up surfing by adblocks & hardcoded fav. sites
    14.) Work on any webbound app (e.g. stand-alone email programs) multiplatform.
    15.) Give you easily texteditor controlled data for the above
    16.) Block ads more efficiently in cpu cycles + memory use vs. addons

    * ANSWER ="NO" to each on AdBlock or Ghostery doing all that let alone well!

    APK

    P.S.=> Addons do FAR less than hosts do & FAR less efficiently - hosts by way of comparison, do MORE w/ less + Hosts start w/ the IP stack before REDUNDANT inefficient addons BEGIN to operate (as 1st resolver queried):

    AdBlock's 4++gb & 100% CPU usage flooring inefficiency -> https://blog.mozilla.org/nneth... + ClarityRay defeats it + it 'souled-out' & is crippled by default paid off to not do its job http://techcrunch.com/2013/07/... & ABP too http://finance.yahoo.com/news/...

    Ghostery (Advertiser owned) - "Fox guards henhouse" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G...

    Addons add complexity/room for breakdown/exploit + from a slower mode of operations (usermode = more messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode).

    For the BEST hosts file?

    APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    ... apk

  96. Nope by Indigo · · Score: 1

    > Ads Based On Browsing History Are Coming To All Firefox Users

    Not this one. I've used Firefox forever. But if this can't be disabled easily, they're fucking gone.

  97. bye bye - unstable anyway by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Firefox freezes too much for my taste. Bye bye Firefox.

  98. Doouche by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And this is when Mozilla Firefox dies.

  99. Re: AdBlock & Ghostery = Inferior + 'Souled-Ou by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh fuck off already

  100. I love replies like yours troll: Why? Ok... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're proving me right since YOU can't validly prove me wrong by validly technically disproving my points on hosts superiority to other "so-called 'solutions'"...

    * :)

    (... AND, that is TRULY, that...)

    APK

    P.S.=> "Onwards, & UPWARDS"... apk

  101. Right w/ ya on Opera 12.17 64-bit here but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I use hosts (vs. "Almost ALL Ads Blocked" etc.) http://news.slashdot.org/comme... + I use Opera's NATIVE "By Site Preferences" to 1st set a GLOBAL policy to NOT use these things on ALL sites by default:

    1.) JavaScript
    2.) Cookies
    3.) IFrames/Frames
    4.) Plugins (Only on DEMAND)
    5.) Referrer Information
    6.) Popup blocking on
    7.) DO NOT TRACK set on

    Opera beauty is it has ALWAYS had ALL OF THAT built-in natively (no addons necessary w/ their added overheads & resource costs + risks of the items in the list above (especially javascript's slowness & security risk)).

    IF I need script for ABSOLUTE FULL FUNCTION on a site?

    2nd, I turn on the prefs for THAT SITE ONLY by right-clicks on that page involved & activate ONLY what's needed for full function of that site only!

    It "limits surface area" of attacks & for more speed + security & reliability!

    I also use custom PAC files (like AdBlock variants really but more 'native' to the browser & WILL do a DNS lookup @ times) + a custom user CSS also!

    BOTH shear off things hosts MAY not catch.

    I use hosts mostly for blocking KNOWN bad sites or ads etc., but IF I miss a lookup (rare since I use mostly news aggregators like THIS site is)?

    Then I use OpenDNS (filtered vs. threats & patched vs. Kaminsky redirect security flaws) for rare sub-4% times I miss a lookup since I put my fav. sites I spend MOST of my time @ on the TOPMOST entries of my custom hosts file, aiding speed & reliability vs. bushwhacked or downed DNS servers (both happen QUITE a lot))

    APK

    P.S.=> Works for added speed, security, reliability & anonymity online w/ less resources vs. browser addons in slower usermode + more messagepassing overheads inefficiencies doing FAR MORE w/ less - It's GOOD efficient engineering using what you natively have in an OS + a webbrowser... apk

    1. Re:Right w/ ya on Opera 12.17 64-bit here but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sounds like a lot of extra work, FF with NoScript and AdBlock Plus seem so catch most threats. NoScript is a PITA to set up but once you have a minimal allowed list it does speed up surfing, especially on click-bait websites with a lot of useless javascript.

      As long an you use Linux as your OS (Fedora in my case) when you surf then you should be OK. Linux is not the magic bullet but if you turn off being able to log in as root and use DenyHosts to monitor/block SSH connection attempts the you are in pretty good shape (I find that setting up and maintaining Fail2Ban is also a lot of extra work).

      If you insist on running Windows then make sure it has anti-virus installed and run it in a VM, You get some measure of protection because to try to prevent reverse-engineering a lot of malware will check and not run in a VM. If you have a problem you can always revert to a known good snapshot.

      As far as tracking, who cares? The US government already knows all about me so what privacy do I have to protect? Also it really does not matter if you set "Do Not Track" on your browser, your surfing history can be cobbled together by your ISP from the web requests you make in their network logs.

      As a result I let Google know all about me due to then giving me cool stuff like Gmail, Google+ and Android. I do block Facebook because I am probably the only person on on Earth who does not use Facebook but they can probably figure out who I am due to my always blocking the Facebook tracking javascript that seems to be on 99% of websites out there.

      Hell, I would even not mind the US government tracking me if they gave me something in return, like peace on a global scale and a more just society on a national and local scale. Like that will ever happen though...

  102. The "Lord of HOSTS" = victorious... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "And the world wondered after the beast saying 'Who is like unto the beast, & who is able to make war with him'?" - Revelations Chapter 13 verse 3-4

    It's certain no "Almost ALL Ads Blocked" & its variants, or even DNS servers locally installed fans can after this -> http://news.slashdot.org/comme...

    One thing's also SURE on that note: It's been YOUR "APKOLYPSE" (misspelling & pun DEFINITELY intended after the above + the results here, lol!)...

    AND?

    I'm actually MORE like "The LORD of Hosts" https://answers.yahoo.com/ques... with rank after rank of protective power I can summon @ a word: Hosts!

    PERTINENT QUOTE/EXCERPT:

    "The image this title brings to mind is of a mighty military commander, one who can at a mere word summon rank upon rank of protective power" via hosts/custom hosts files use...

    For the BEST hosts file?

    APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...

    MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

    APK

    P.S.=> You have TRULY, massively failed - So, Thank-You (for making ME look GREAT & yourself by way of comparison? LMAO - well... "not so great")

    ... apk

  103. Fucking middle managers by klueless · · Score: 1

    It is clear from previous Mozilla discussions that their operation has become overrun by middle managers that don't actually do anything except fuck things up. I had my last straw with Firefox this week when it crashed on YouTube several times. It is kind of a relief to see this story; now I can leave and never look back.

  104. Re:You've missed the point, this is huge for priva by s.t.a.l.k.e.r._loner · · Score: 1

    Vendors don't WANT to deliver advertising without tracking. Or, perhaps some vendors do, but marketers most assuredly will not allow this to happen. Tracking gives marketers an incredible amount of information, but they use that information not merely to advertise more effectively to you personally (although that is done too). By studying what works on you and what works on everybody else, and what doesn't work, they are able to dial in the broader strokes of general advertising to make it more effective on everybody. Comparisons are not possible if unidentifiable subjects cannot be distinguished between those who are influenced to buy and those who aren't. The people who actively

  105. Re:You've missed the point, this is huge for priva by s.t.a.l.k.e.r._loner · · Score: 1

    Oops, forgot I had started another thought and submitted. Anyway, the people who actively suppress advertising are still in the minority.

  106. Re:why? by peacefool · · Score: 1

    Simple answer:
    discontinued Internet Explorer.

    Now users need another software to download a different browser,
    and the Mozilla Firefox has heroically taken the place of discontinued IE.

  107. Re:Advertising vs tracking by peacefool · · Score: 1

    Advertising != tracking.

    I am ok with advertising through duckduckgo.com,
    they provide search services without tracking me, and manage to be financially sustainable.

    Why should browsers be different, and spy on users?

  108. Respecting Privacy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Firefox says they can respect users' privacy while snooping on their browsing history because the suggested webpages will be webpages the user actually wants to see. This is like one's mortgage-holder mandating you let them watch you shower so they can hand you the soap at the right moment, and calling that respect of your privacy.

  109. will be patched out by drwho · · Score: 1

    what a bunch of hypocritical selllouts

  110. Whatever happened to PRIVACY? by iq145 · · Score: 1

    i can hardly put into words how much i hate this kind of stuff. How dare they! Who do they think they are to "use" us like this? i'm sure almost everyone agrees...

  111. Forking now by ThG · · Score: 1

    Fork in 3... 2... 1...

  112. A little more work, lot more effective... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject: Using less & doing more using what you already have natively: hosts + Opera to this day's the MOST flexible natively feature-laden browser there is!

    NoScript's a browser addon I don't rib-on for inferiority (though it CAN be EASILY DETECTED FOR via native browser methods just as AdBlock & it's variants + Ghostery can denying you entry into a site IF they want to track you/advertise to you - just a fact, ClarityRay does it - IF you're not aware of 'em look 'em up!).

    Extra effort's NOT something you're a stranger to - YOU use LINUX & that's a 'bit more effort' vs. Windows.

    Nothing's a "magic bullet" by itself (not even hosts)!

    Hosts does more for LESS from 1 single file you already have natively built-in to your IP stack itself running not in slower usermode but in faster/higher CPU serviced kernelmode by a highly priveleged & used subsystem!

    Reason I don't "do" NoScript is for sites I need scripting on such as online tests, banking, ecommerce etc. (database access + cookie using ones) I set a "By Site" preference in Opera - vs. ALL others globally having all the items I noted turned RIGHT off since they slow you pose threats, & what-have-you.

    Works for a LOT less overheads for both security, speed, & reliability (even added anonymity).

    Regarding Windows (don't get me wrong - I've used Linux way, Way, WAY back in Slackware 1.02 circa 1994 & all summer long while I was touring Europe in 2010, on a laptop, just to 'see how the other 1/2 lives' - it's ok, but I came back to Windows due to being used to wares I use on it & am way familiar with):

    I've been 'security-hardening' Windows since NT 3.51 came out actually (even DOS/Win3.x/9x before-during that timeframe too) -> Search "How to Secure Windows 2000/XP".

    (95% or so of the results as topmost/1st page are mine: & they're "layered-security"/"defense-in-depth")

    APK

    P.S.=> It's NOT GOVERNMENT ITSELF but rather the "BIG MONEY 1%" behind them... apk