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Mozilla Has 'No Plans' To Offer Firefox Without Pocket (venturebeat.com)

An anonymous reader writes: In June, Mozilla integrated Pocket into Firefox, garnering a mixed response from the browser's community. This week, VentureBeat stumbled upon a Bugzilla ticket (bug 1215694) to "move Pocket to a built-in add-on" and immediately reached out to the company. "There are currently no plans to offer a version of Firefox that doesn't include Pocket," said Dave Camp, Firefox's director of engineering.

199 comments

  1. Could you at least hint what "Pocket" is? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Thanks Dicedot. Please, you know, edit.

    1. Re:Could you at least hint what "Pocket" is? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      As far as I can tell, it's a 3rd party bookmarking system.

    2. Re:Could you at least hint what "Pocket" is? by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      You know this system is probably used for advertising metrics.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    3. Re:Could you at least hint what "Pocket" is? by Dr.+Evil · · Score: 5, Informative

      "...the manner in which videos, articles or content has been accessed, saved and shared. We may use aggregated information to offer a list of top sites or content, or to make suggestions to our users or to report on usage and trends. We may also analyze and use aggregated information to improve the products and services that we offer, and to develop new products and services. "

      Yep.

      https://getpocket.com/privacy

      It's written a bit slimy, making strong statements then giving really innocent examples. I'm reading it while trying to keep in mind that a service to store your bookmarks is going to have to have a privacy policy which allows them to store your bookmarks.

      Everything free is malware these days, and many things paid.

    4. Re:Could you at least hint what "Pocket" is? by rossdee · · Score: 4, Funny

      "You know this system is probably used for advertising metrics."

      Only of use in the USA then, thats the only place that still uses feet, pounds and acres
      the rest of the world already uses the metric system.

    5. Re:Could you at least hint what "Pocket" is? by OverlordQ · · Score: 2

      If you actually read, it's been brought up many times. Not to mention the search bar is over there.

      --
      Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
    6. Re:Could you at least hint what "Pocket" is? by msauve · · Score: 1

      "Could you at least hint what "Pocket" is?"

      Dice has no pants.

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
    7. Re:Could you at least hint what "Pocket" is? by StormReaver · · Score: 5, Informative

      Pocket is a proprietary usage tracking system. You sign up for an account, which is how the tracking is performed. Then you can save Web pages, videos, etc. to your hard drive using the Pocket system to you can view the content offline later. All the while, Pocket is building a database of what you saved, which laws you've broken (to be handed over to law enforcement upon request), what your viewing preferences are, etc.

    8. Re:Could you at least hint what "Pocket" is? by cstacy · · Score: 1

      Pocket is a proprietary usage tracking system. You sign up for an account, which is how the tracking is performed. Then you can save Web pages, videos, etc. to your hard drive using the Pocket system to you can view the content offline later. All the while, Pocket is building a database of what you saved, which laws you've broken (to be handed over to law enforcement upon request), what your viewing preferences are, etc.

      mod up

    9. Re:Could you at least hint what "Pocket" is? by Askmum · · Score: 1

      So, what is the problem having this as an addon? What you do in your house, I might not do in mine. So why clutter firefox up with things you like to do and most people don't when there is a perfectly working addon for it?

      I have said this before and will say it again (lacking the ability to do so myself): Firefox needs to get forked and all the clutter needs to be removed.

  2. browser.pocket.enabled = false by Luthair · · Score: 5, Informative

    NT

    1. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But that doesn't change the fact that the guys at Mozilla have lost it. Who is picking up the torch? Non-profit, open-source, privacy-aware fork. Please?

    2. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      All I know is that the "browser.pocket.enabled" config isn't in Seamonkey. Nor are (so far) all the stupid attempts to clone Chrome.

    3. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Seamonkey 2.0's interface changes did scare me a bit shitless though

    4. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by hairyfeet · · Score: 5, Informative

      What you want is Pale Moon which is FF without the bullshit, NO Australis, NO Pocket, and NO ending the extensions, in fact they've been reaching out to ext devs to get them to support PM which now has its own user agent string and the ones who don't they are compiling their own version.

      I've been using them a couple years and its a rock solid dependable browser without the politics and crap, try it I bet you'll like it. Oh and before somebody asks they've recently added a Linux build which you can either get with the installer or through tarball, your choice.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    5. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by qubezz · · Score: 5, Informative

      Payola. That's the only reason why a third-party plugin would be forced onto an unwilling user base. Who's getting the money, and how much?

    6. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The Linux build has been out for over a year now, and is solid. Excellent browser.

    7. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Anrego · · Score: 1

      Indeed, been using palemoon for awhile and very happy with it. Basically Firefox before it started to suck with the improvements that actually matter.

      I really hope the project keeps on trucking, for now it's definitely the best option for the Firefox user who's getting tired of all the bullshit.

    8. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by hairyfeet · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If you want the project to continue? Then please leave the new start page and use it for any searches or click throughs to places like FB or Flicker as the devs get a couple cents for clicks which goes to keeping the team up and running. I personally have NO problem with an arrangement like this as it means I can keep my Adblock on and still support the team so I use it all the time, I hope others do as well to keep the project going strong.

      As for the Linux build being a year old? I try my damnedest to avoid Linux (because I find it buggy as fuck) so I only recently came across it thanks to MSFT forcing me to try to find affordable alternatives to Windows "all ur data belong to us" 10 Spyware Edition being the only one you can actually purchase. Personally I'll probably be going to Windows 8.1 but most of my customers don't have the option and once Win 7 reaches EOL I'll have to have a functional alternative, hence why I'm looking at Linux software now, not to mention my Vista customers will be hitting EOL soon and I wouldn't wish Win 10 on my worst enemies.....well maybe the FOSSIes, because that would be funny, but otherwise no..

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    9. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by trabby · · Score: 1

      I use Windows 10 with this thing: https://github.com/10se1ucgo/D... kills all the crap. Only use local accounts too.

    10. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > I try my damnedest to avoid Linux (because I find it buggy as fuck)

      Then you were trying the wrong distro.

      http://www.debian.org/

      you're welcome.

    11. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You find Linux buggy as fuck in contrast to... Windows?

      Tell you you were joking.

    12. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by corychristison · · Score: 1

      I've been playing with Pale Moon on Android and i feel it is more stable than Firefox so far.

      I also havd Pale Moon on my Funtoi workstation. Anyone on Funtoo/Gentoo there is an official Pale Moon overlay in layman. Simply run:
      # layman -S
      # layman -a palemoon
      # emerge palemoon

      Replace palemoon with palemoon-bin on the last one if you would prefer a prebuilt binary, though that kind of negates the point of Gentoo/Funtoo.

    13. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NO ending the extensions

      I don't know where this idea comes from. The concerns about the add on API changes are largely groundless. The only real concern is that a new API means making changes to get an add on working in the new environment, but that's true of any new API.

    14. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Non-profit, open-source, privacy-aware fork.

      With a non-shitty interface.

    15. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by reikae · · Score: 1

      Something like Vimperator installed by default? Most users would probably find it confusing.

    16. Re:browser.pocket.enabled = false by ohnocitizen · · Score: 1

      Thank you. I didn't even know what this "feature" was. Now I can turn it off and wait until the next overreach by Firefox. I wonder how long I had this turned on, and whether the next slimy move by Firefox will remain a non obvious/effectively hidden problem for as long.

    17. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Next version of Firefox will get systemd...

    18. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by KGIII · · Score: 1

      There are some strange installers on Linux. I'm used to this. However, Pale Moon is just the strangest one that I think I've ever seen.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    19. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is Firefox w/ pocket not privacy aware? Pocket doesn't force you to have an account or to login or to start using it at all. If you leave it alone, it does absolutely nothing.

    20. Re:browser.pocket.enabled = false by blogagog · · Score: 1

      Thanks much!

    21. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 1

      It's very nice to see such a relevant post.

      From personal and professional experience, I'd suggest that you treat Windows 8 much like the market treated WinME, and simply jump straight to Windows 10. It does have issues, but it's avoided the user interface errors that Windows 8 insisted on, and it's much better supported than Windows 8 is now.

    22. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > I've been playing with Pale Moon on Android and i feel it is more stable than Firefox so far.

      A freshwater gape pulled into the bottom of your boat, gasping for water and gnawing on the fingers of anyone trying to unhook it, is safer and more unstalbe than FireFox releases of the last year or two. So I'm sad to say that your friendly evaluation of Pale Moon..... may not mean as much as you thought it did.

    23. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by unixisc · · Score: 1

      If you want the project to continue? Then please leave the new start page and use it for any searches or click throughs to places like FB or Flicker as the devs get a couple cents for clicks which goes to keeping the team up and running. I personally have NO problem with an arrangement like this as it means I can keep my Adblock on and still support the team so I use it all the time, I hope others do as well to keep the project going strong.

      As for the Linux build being a year old? I try my damnedest to avoid Linux (because I find it buggy as fuck) so I only recently came across it thanks to MSFT forcing me to try to find affordable alternatives to Windows "all ur data belong to us" 10 Spyware Edition being the only one you can actually purchase. Personally I'll probably be going to Windows 8.1 but most of my customers don't have the option and once Win 7 reaches EOL I'll have to have a functional alternative, hence why I'm looking at Linux software now, not to mention my Vista customers will be hitting EOL soon and I wouldn't wish Win 10 on my worst enemies.....well maybe the FOSSIes, because that would be funny, but otherwise no..

      If you are now looking at Linux, consider PC-BSD. I've found it very smooth to work w/, and like you've noted, it doesn't break previous drivers. I got it when PC-BSD was10.0. My only beef - getting WiFi support on the Intel WiFi chipset. It comes w/ a wide variety of DEs, but leaves out some interesting ones, like Razor-qt and LXQT: that's due to their Linux specific dependencies. However, I use Lumina, a new DE which is really smooth and largely stays out of your way.

      For Steam users, v11 will have support for SteamOS jails, from where one can play some SteamOS games.

    24. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by unixisc · · Score: 1

      I fully agree w/ this. If I had Windows 7, I wouldn't have bothered upgrading, but since I had Windows 8, which was unusable - even Windows 8.1 - I upgraded to Windows 10. Only issue I have w/ it is the daily rebooting. Most of my browsing, my online finances, handling my home maintenance issues and other things where my privacy matters, I do from this PC-BSD laptop. Only thing I use the Windows 10 for is for software that absolutely must have Windows to run.

    25. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes indeed. Pale Moon is excellent. I forget which particular bit of Mozilla bullshit (the list just keeps growing so it's hard to keep track) made me jump ship months ago, but I'm so glad I did.

      An interesting thing I've found is that I forget I'm using a browser with Pale Moon. It just works and doesn't get in my face, unlike Firefox which seems to want to fuck things up for its users because of demands by the money men. Proprietary software like Firefox (I know, I know, but that's how Mozilla makes me feel these days) just changes all the time for no good reason from a user perspective.

      This thread has reminded me that I need to donate to the Pale Moon developer.

      Stating the obvious: this is why open source is so important. When the marketing droids and suits start to fuck things up, we can just fork off.

    26. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by rduke15 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      These Windows vs Linux (vs Mac) are so ridiculously "last century".

      Yes, Linux is terribly buggy and limited as a Desktop system. But it has been extremely stable and generally a pleasure to work with as a server system.
      Macs are great desktop systems with the advantage of also having a real shell, and generally having Unix under the hood.
      Windows is the most stable desktop system I know (as long as it is not infected by malware), and has the greatest choice of high quality software in almost all categories. But I would certainly hate it if I needed to use it as a server.

      As it is, I use all 3 daily, and usually have a couple of ssh and/or VNC windows to other systems open. Just use the right tool for the job. This juvenile OS war is so passé...

    27. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by allo · · Score: 1

      I would always live in fear with windows 10. Fear, that the next update brings tracking stuff, which is not blocked, yet.
      I do not want a cat & mice game, where i always need to hide. I want a system i can trust.

    28. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by nctritech · · Score: 1

      I used Pale Moon for a long time and even switched people from Firefox over to it regularly. Then more and more of the bill payment portals didn't work properly until I could not justify using it any longer due to having to install Firefox anyway just to be capable of paying the bills. I couldn't even leave product reviews on Newegg. I'd still be using Pale Moon if I could pay my bills with it. I even waited for a version that would work properly, but three updates went by and nothing changed. Sigh, back to Firefox.

      Off topic: I've noticed that Chrome has gotten *really* terrible. The memory footprint and poor performance is astonishing. If Chrome is "fast," Firefox is Win98-on-i7 fast.

    29. Re: browser.pocket.enabled = false by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that just means you're insane though

  3. We Gentoo users build our own by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Will they have it set up so that a configuration option at build time controls whether to build Pocket? If not, I'm sure that someone will make a patch to do the thing.

  4. /Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Sad to see once a web browser that once was a bastion of open source become yet-another-sell-out.

    1. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Sad to see the community over-react about it, too. Maybe if they had helped out more, Mozilla would still be what they wish it was. Instead it's exactly where it ended up because people gave up on it.

    2. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by shubus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Of course I would like to get rid of Pocket. 3rd party bookmarking? Yah, like that's all it does. More than likely Pocket is collecting your browser history and selling it to 3rd parties to target advertising your way. Indeed Firefox has lost it.

    3. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe. But it's hard to help out when Mozilla refuse to listen to you and refuse to take your patches.

    4. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      People gave up on it because it had tons of problems and the developers at Mozilla are a bunch of clueless douchebags.

      Firefox is dead and there is zero reason to use it when there are many vastly superior choices.

    5. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Cthefuture · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Honestly curious what the "superior" choice is?

      The spyware known as Chrome/Chromium? Internet Explorer? The unstable Opera? What is it, man? Please tell us what your awesome browser is so we can join you because frankly I'm out of ideas.

      --
      The ratio of people to cake is too big
    6. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      why lump chromium together with chrome? one is the commercial version and the other is the open source version, isn't it?

    7. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IE.

      Newer versions aren't at all bad, and Microsoft simply doesn't have the malevolence of Google.

      Or you can use Opera, if you like broken shit, I guess.

    8. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      PaleMoon
      SeaMonkey

      Basically anything forked off of Firefox from back when Firefox wasn't fully sold out.

    9. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by khellendros1984 · · Score: 1

      I use Pale Moon. It's a fork of Firefox from before the Australis UI change and without Pocket and such. It uses Duckduckgo for its default search engine. They bring in security fixes from Firefox, just not the UI changes and other questionable things that Mozilla has done.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    10. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mozilla is too big and consequently filled with bastards. Remember when they forced their CEO to resign because of his personal opinions?

    11. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      PaleMoon
      SeaMonkey

      Basically anything forked off of Firefox from back when Firefox wasn't fully sold out.

      What do you think about Dillo?

    12. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Chromium, Opera, Pale Moon, Midori, QupZilla, IceCat, K-Meleon, Dooble, Web, Comodo Dragon, Comodo Icedragon, Lunascape, Sleipnir, Vivaldi, Avant, Epic

    13. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Haven't had a chance to try it. I'll look into it :)

      I use Palemoon specifically for plugin support and customize-ability. Not sure if Dillo can match that, but the concept of a very lightweight browser isn't a bad one.

    14. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Mashiki · · Score: 1

      Chromium doesn't have spyware. You can check the binaries yourself.

      --
      Om, nomnomnom...
    15. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seamonkey is a forked version of mozilla/firefox with an older UI without all the crap.

    16. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tried Pale Moon. It didn't work with Google Play Music, whereas Chrome, Safari, and Firefox all work fine.

    17. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you have proof of this collection/selling of data or are you talking out of your ass again?

    18. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except Chrome has been turning into a piece of shit recently; not fully loading pages, choking while scrolling the festering, infinite scrolling pages. In a short time it's become a piece of crap.

    19. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by icebike · · Score: 1

      PaleMoon
      SRWare Iron
      Epic Privacy Browser
      Opera
      Seriously, turn in your leet creds on the way out the door if you have to ask such a question.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    20. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tried Pale Moon. It didn't work with Google Play Music

      And nothing of value was lost.

    21. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by schamarty · · Score: 1

      I switched to qupzilla when Firefox started this pocket nonsense. Some sites don't render properly but most of them are OK. I do use FF just for those sites, but it's kinda rare...

      Very happy with qupzilla. I especially like it's built in "noscript" idea that when you enable JS, it's *per tab* (i.e., all the other tabs where you loaded other URLs from the same site do not start reloading with JS immediately)

    22. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When confronted with a web-footed bird that quacks at you, do you ask it for proof that it's a duck?

    23. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by reikae · · Score: 1

      I don't see how the UI changes have anything to do with Mozilla "selling out". I quite like how Firefox looks right now but that doesn't mean I approve of Mozilla including Pocket, for example.

      That said, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a Pale Moon fork that includes Australis. :-)

    24. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by arglebargle_xiv · · Score: 1

      If he was talking out of his ass then the post would have read "Tthhpppttt ffrrtt phphphpbbbbtttt frrrrbbbbttt".

    25. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by KGIII · · Score: 1

      What's broken in Opera? I use all three builds (dev, beta, and stable) on a fairly regular basis. I suspect you've either not used it or not used it in a while. It was pretty rough when they moved to the Chromium fork but they've made it damned stable and fairly light. The added bonus is that it doesn't have the Google tracking shit in it. It has been pretty good since about ten versions ago.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    26. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Threni · · Score: 1

      I was using pocket anyway; it's a great service and i use it all the time. If you don't like it you can disable it. I'm not seeing the problem here. I

    27. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ironic, as your comment adds nothing to the discussion.

    28. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's called Fifth, and another option is Otter.

      http://fifth-browser.sf.net/
      http://otter-browser.org/

    29. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      They both report back to google, and other builds like srware iron are mostly placebo

    30. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You forgot Seamonkey.

    31. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless it downloads one all by itself, of course. https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=786909

    32. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "I was trying to get away from proprietary lock-in so that I wouldn't get fucked over all the time, but then when I wanted to get locked into something proprietary (because my goal was to get fucked over and become an unhappier person) it didn't work right!"

    33. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've been using Pocket for at least 2 years now. If you like reading web articles in an easy to read format on various devices (online and offline), it's very useful. Pocket also suggests other articles you might like based on what you've read already and what others have read - I've found a large percentage of the suggestions have been interesting. Great for "long reads" because it remembers where you left off and scrolls to that position again.
      I've tried it in the browser, on Android, and my Kobo e-ink reader. At my computer, I like to add a bunch of articles to Pocket and then read them later on my phone when I have a few spare minutes.

      If you want to prove that Pocket is spying, learn how to use Wireshark and other system debugging tools. While unsubstantiated claims are popular on /., that doesn't make them true.

    34. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by samwichse · · Score: 1

      Have you tried Vivaldi?

      It has the google search-as-you type spyware like all browsers, but you can disable it. Supposed to harken back to ye olde Opera interface, but built on a modern framework.

    35. Re:/Oblg. No plans to use Firefox then by khellendros1984 · · Score: 1

      The UI changes aren't "selling out" in and of themselves, but I don't care for them. I don't really mind how it looks aesthetically, but I like some of the functionality that was removed (page title at the top of the window, back/forward/reload/home all in the same location, status bar statically located at the bottom of the screen, menu at the top left, etc). The other major changes (integration of the social API, Hello, Pocket, and Reader Mode) aren't directly related, but it feels like a flurry of somewhat-controversial changes on Mozilla's part, so I think that a lot of people probably associate them with each other.

      Australis relies on add-ons to re-add functionality that was removed. I think that's actually in keeping with the previous philosophy of the browser (lightweight core, extensible with add-ons/extensions). The other things should probably be some of those extensions, rather than integrated into the base browser.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
  5. So much for "Great or Dead" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    NT

  6. Iceweasel for Windows? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Someone can make a build excluding all the objectionable content, right? You just can't call it Firefox if you do.

    1. Re:Iceweasel for Windows? by twocows · · Score: 5, Informative

      You might want to look into Pale Moon.

    2. Re:Iceweasel for Windows? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep. They seem to be do a pretty good job of keeping the security / privacy updated, but keeping all the firefox crap out.

    3. Re:Iceweasel for Windows? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You might want to look into Pale Moon.

      I just did. Alas, I do not wish to download anything that only offers a so-called "web installer".

      I either can download it so I can save it for future use and install it off-line (so I can check what it attempts to do and trashbin it when I deem it to exhibit activities I do not like -- like connecting to the 'web without my explicit say-so), or I do not use it.

      Next to that, I thought that "pale moon" was ment to adress junk-inclusion issues. In that case, why than does version 25.7.3 (the latest) mention problems with servers offering something called "sync" being shut down ? What has "sync" (or whatever hides behind that name) to do with a webbrowser ? (and if someone thinks he wants/needs to use that feature not use a plugin for it ?)

    4. Re:Iceweasel for Windows? by slaker · · Score: 1

      Palemoon has (or had, I never used it) a Bookmark and Settings Sync service very similar to the one present in Firefox. It was a first-party tool maintained by the people who are responsible for Palemoon.

      IIRC, both Chrome and Firefox for Windows are also packaged as web installers rather than .MSIs or the like. This is not unprecedented behavior.

      --
      -- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
    5. Re:Iceweasel for Windows? by sumdumass · · Score: 1

      I'm to lazy to actually look it up - but sync should be the service that allows you to store your bookmarks remotely so you can use them across platforms and systems.

      It would make sense that they would be shut down if pocket is a third party bookmarks service. Sync was a Mozilla in house thing and even though the ability was built in, it was optional and required you to create an account before anything was transferred.

    6. Re:Iceweasel for Windows? by RDW · · Score: 4, Informative

      I just did. Alas, I do not wish to download anything that only offers a so-called "web installer".

      You don't have to. The offline installers are linked from the 'Download' dropdown menu right there on their home page.

    7. Re:Iceweasel for Windows? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just did. Alas, I do not wish to download anything that only offers a so-called "web installer".

      So, you're savvy enough to want a standalone installer, but you're also so box-of-rocks dumb that you can't find the menu with the word "Download" on it that directs you to downloads of versions for all of the various platforms you can install it on?

      I call bullshit. You're either a serial whiner or a shill for the competition.

    8. Re: Iceweasel for Windows? by corychristison · · Score: 2

      Sync in Palemoon is based on the old Sync 1.1 in Firefox. Everything is encrypted client-side and your key is never transmitted. Sync 1.5 is what is currently included in recent Firefox builds. It does transmit your key.

      You run your own Sync 1.1 server, and configure Pale Moon to use it instead if that tickles your fancy. See here: https://docs.services.mozilla....

    9. Re:Iceweasel for Windows? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just did. Alas, I do not wish to download anything that only offers a so-called "web installer".

      http://www.palemoon.org/palemoon-win32.shtml
      http://www.palemoon.org/palemoon-win64.shtml

      Ignore the "web installer" (I've never used it and never will). What you seek is under the "Download" tab.

      Next to that, I thought that "pale moon" was ment to adress junk-inclusion issues. In that case, why than does version 25.7.3 (the latest) mention problems with servers offering something called "sync" being shut down ? What has "sync" (or whatever hides behind that name) to do with a webbrowser ? (and if someone thinks he wants/needs to use that feature not use a plugin for it ?)

      Sync was some shit that Mozilla put into Firefox before people really gave a shit about bloat, and for whatever reason PaleMoon kept it in, but left it pointed towards the Mozilla servers, which finally got shut down. I've never turned it on, never will.

      Happy Palemoon user here. It's not perfect, but it beats the shit out of the ruination that the UXtards have brought to Firefail.

    10. Re:Iceweasel for Windows? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too bad Pale Moon crapped all over the accessibility features and tore them out.

    11. Re:Iceweasel for Windows? by aix+tom · · Score: 1

      Hehehe. Either you just insulted all the intelligent boxes-of-rocks out there, or Moonchild is really fast to listen to users.

      On the Pale Moon home page, RIGHT under the big Download Button it states:

      Having trouble with the web installer or looking for other download options like an off-line installer, a package for a different operating system, Atom builds or portable version? Check the download menu at the top of this page!

    12. Re:Iceweasel for Windows? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      but sync should be the service that allows you to store your bookmarks remotely so you can use them across platforms and systems.

      No, sync should be the service that allows you to store your bookmarks wherever you choose.

      I'd much rather have my stuff on a USB drive in my pocket than on a server who knows where run by unknown slimecocks.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  7. Was great now just dead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I guess the Pocket is then one of those things that are not bloat from Mozilla point of view. Thankfully we can now be get rid of Classic theme restorer plugin instead, so we can truly embrace the full Mozilla experience by pocketing our chats while we share the rich converged and aligned experience with the Mozilla social media features.

    1. Re:Was great now just dead by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Funny

      At Mozilla, it is our job to continue to synergistically leverage others' long-term high-impact technology as well as continue to competently supply seven-habits-conforming meta-services for 100% customer satisfaction.

      It's also our objective to completely integrate cutting-edge catalysts for change so that we may endeavor to conveniently customize holistic solutions while maintaining the highest standards.

      http://cmorse.org/missiongen/

    2. Re:Was great now just dead by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      Lololo god bless you for picking one with "meta-services".

    3. Re:Was great now just dead by complete+loony · · Score: 1

      Or for Weird Al fans; mission statement

      --
      09F91102 no, 455FE104 nope, F190A1E8 uh-uh, 7A5F8A09 that's not it, C87294CE no. Ah! 452F6E403CDF10714E41DFAA257D313F.
    4. Re:Was great now just dead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But is it webscale??

  8. I'm howlin' mad: by Tablizer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Pale Moooooon

    1. Re:I'm howlin' mad: by rholtzjr · · Score: 1

      Already switched and I am now very content.
      Thanks Moonchild Productions. :)

    2. Re:I'm howlin' mad: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      100% I dumped Firefox and Thunderbird about 5 months ago for Palemoon and FossaMail. Never going back.

    3. Re:I'm howlin' mad: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yet another example of free software with a stupid fucking gay name. Won't touch it with a 10 foot pole.

    4. Re:I'm howlin' mad: by antdude · · Score: 3, Interesting

      SeaMonkey and rarely changed on the front end.

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    5. Re:I'm howlin' mad: by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      I hope that in Hell, Satan forces you to use Gimp and PostreSql to listen to Ogg Vorbis's.

    6. Re:I'm howlin' mad: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I hope that in Hell, Satan forces you to use Gimp and PostreSql to listen to Ogg Vortis's."

      Wow, you are evil minded. About the only worse thing you can add to that is forcing him to use a punch card machine with a dry ribbon.

  9. That's OK. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have 'No Plans' to use any Mozilla product.

  10. Their next target is Linux. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They've worked hard to drive out the people who made it great and replace them with people trying to monetize it.

    Pretty sure Linus is next and then Linux will go this route.

    1. Re:Their next target is Linux. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You nailed it. This hit piece on Linus just came out 2 days ago.

    2. Re:Their next target is Linux. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hit piece? Did you read it? It's very supportive of Linus. It describes a perceived problem with the community and describes Linus as having a normal management style for a major software project.

      Here's a quote: "It’s not Torvalds’ fault. He’s a technical leader with a vision, not a manager. The real problem is that there seems to be no one in the software development universe who can set a supportive tone for teams and communities."

  11. Not So by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They're simply going with option B.

  12. lighten the browser core... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So much for "lighten the browser core and remove a feature they don't see as heavily used"
    from:
    http://developers.slashdot.org/story/15/11/12/2015227/mozilla-plans-to-remove-support-for-firefox-complete-themes

  13. SystemD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It already has.

  14. Iceweasel by tepples · · Score: 1

    But the browser you build is not a Firefox® browser. Instead, Gentoo users have to go the Iceweasel route.

    1. Re:Iceweasel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      iceweasel has nothing to do with gentoo and feature enabling. it has to do with mozilla trademarking their logo and debian choosing not to use the trademarked logo.

    2. Re:Iceweasel by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      But the browser you build is not a Firefox® browser. Instead, Gentoo users have to go the Iceweasel route.

      That's incorrect. The Mozilla license forbids distribution of the Firefox package if built from modified sources, but anyone building Firefox for himself or herself is free to build the package to suit. That's what happens on Gentoo machines when building Firefox without the bindist USE flag. The firefox on my machines is is Mozilla-branded Firefox, but with Gentoo patches. I can't distribute that, but I can sure use it.

    3. Re:Iceweasel by ncc74656 · · Score: 1

      But the browser you build is not a Firefox® browser. Instead, Gentoo users have to go the Iceweasel route.

      sudo euse -D bindist && sudo emerge firefox

      That said, when Mozilla jumped the shark, I ditched SJWfox and switched to Chrome.

      --
      20 January 2017: the End of an Error.
  15. After all this time... by sconeu · · Score: 1

    I still have no f***ing idea what Pocket is, and why I should have it in my browser.

    --
    General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    1. Re:After all this time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree, and the same goes for "Hello" and the other dozen kitchen sink items they've added over the last couple years. I'm in an experimental mood today after throwing Centos instead of Debian on a server and so I think I'm going to play around with Pale Moon.

      See ya, Mozilla.

    2. Re:After all this time... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't worry, the mailicious web sites and advertisement agencies are using it on behalf of you on your browser.

  16. Dictator of engineering by manu0601 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dave Camp, Firefox's director of engineering

    At first glance, my brain quickly read "dictator of engineering" :-)

    1. Re:Dictator of engineering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      dick of engineering

  17. Developer directions, not the users' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sure, while users aren't on the whole happy with Pocket, they'll continue to push that while discontinuing tab groups and heavy themes. Starting to look like a Microsoft product.

  18. Actually they already do offer a version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Firefox ESR 38.4.0 here. No Pocket so far.. Will probably change though around March/April 2016 when the ESR syncs up with Firefox 45.

  19. No problem. by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Informative

    [about:config] browser.pocket.enabled = false

    Every time Mozilla releases an update, I have to search through the config settings for new ".enabled" things to disable. (sigh)

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    1. Re:No problem. by nmb3000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Every time Mozilla releases an update, I have to search through the config settings for new ".enabled" things to disable.

      Don't forget the part where you hope to hell they haven't removed even more "about:config" settings you rely on since "nobody uses the feature we intentionally hid behind an obscure configuration setting (surprise!)".

      --
      "What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
      /)
    2. Re:No problem. by Rutulian · · Score: 1

      Or you could just, you know, not use it. It's been there for months. I've never even noticed it. I don't use a Firefox account, so who cares about Pocket integration anyway?

    3. Re:No problem. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd be happier if I could figure out how to get rid of this entry in the Bookmarks menu, which is still there even after setting browser.pocket.enabled=false.

    4. Re:No problem. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Meanwhile Chrome still gets a free pass while you have to run command line option (--show-component-extension-options) to even see them to disable them.

    5. Re:No problem. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This. Pocket is by no means mandatory and is trivial to ignore. Ignore it and move on with live.

    6. Re:No problem. by ChoGGi · · Score: 1

      Well, until Mozilla removes UserChrome.css because telemetry says it isn't used:

      #bookmarksMenuPopup>#menu_pocket,
      #bookmarksMenuPopup>#menu_pocketSeparator{display:none!important}

  20. Re:I hate social media by gstoddart · · Score: 1

    Friend sends you link with "cool story bro"
    you find it's shit, then click "Fuck Off" button to permanently firewall it.

    Bah, you already have that button .. reply to your friend with "Fuck Off".

    Or, do you just want some sort of passive aggressive thing where you can quietly throw a tantrum and block sites?

    You don't need a damned button to be antisocial.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  21. Please forgive my ignorance, by Yxven · · Score: 4, Insightful

    but why does Pocket matter?

    When they first introduced it, I right clicked it and removed it from my toolbar. I haven't thought of it since, yet there are people threatening to boycott Firefox over it.

    I've never about:config disabled it. Is it selling my privacy? Doubling firefox's memory usage? Supporting terrorism?

    Why is it news worthy?

    1. Re:Please forgive my ignorance, by denis-The-menace · · Score: 2

      This is one reason i remember:

      multiple vulnerabilities exposed in pocket.

      http://it.slashdot.org/story/1...

      --
      Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
    2. Re:Please forgive my ignorance, by vux984 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      but why does Pocket matter?

      Its not what it is, it's what it represents.

      Pocket is a proprietary system, with a commerical company behind it, that produced an addon that a small number of people used.

      That was fine. Nobody objected to it. Nobody cared.

      Then one day, pocket was integrated into the browser. Why? WHY? What possible reason was there to integrate a 3rd party commercial add on directly into the codebase.No good one.

      The free software people were pissed at having a proprietary service.

      The no-bloat were pissed off at another completely pointless feature; especially when the add-on was working just fine for the people who wanted it.

      And the rest of us look at it as the thin edge of the wedge; as in if Mozilla is willing to just thrust this on us... where does it end? Facebook integration next built right in? Twitter after that? Snapchat? Zynga games? Chatroulette? Not as addons... all built right in to firefox.

    3. Re:Please forgive my ignorance, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Pocket matters because it's THE symbol of Mozilla ignoring its strengths and leveraging its weakness.
      What strengths Mozilla/Firefox have (or is perceived to have)? Promotion of open standards instead of proprietary solutions; care for users' privacy; powerful addon infrastructure that allows me to run niche functionality like Pocket if I like it.
      And what did they do? They built in a proprietary solution that has unnecessary privacy considerations that is NOT an addon.

      It's not about technology, it's about doing the exact wrong thing.

    4. Re:Please forgive my ignorance, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, then the free software people better put their code where their mouth is and provide pocket-free builds! The endless bitching of people who actually contribute ZERO to anything is just plain annoying.

    5. Re:Please forgive my ignorance, by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Why? Everybody wants to get paid. You know, damned well, that they're getting a kickback from the ad revenue from the Pocket folks.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    6. Re:Please forgive my ignorance, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Mozilla is a community. It gets credits for being a community project. Then, a few people working there start ignoring the community and what it stands for. It starts ignoring the very nature of Firefox, and the people who used it since the beginning, who contributed to it in many ways, including bug reports and enhancement suggestions, including with code, and who are largely responsible for its diffusion among the general public.

      They're even contradicting themselves, exactly like the GNOME/GTK people and a few other groups who lost it, removing important features "because of cruft" (to name only one, the status bar... and don't talk about the addon bar they added then, because they've removed it too after some time...), then adding BS non-features like Pocket.

      The height of their thinking is badly looking at some basic stats. Adding the 'metrics' itself was an abomination.

    7. Re:Please forgive my ignorance, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Facebook integration next built right in? Twitter after that?

      Firefox already has build in hooks for "social" extensions. A little bit of digging and you will find that these are custom made callbacks for Facebooks chat functionality. While I don't really care about the functionality I do care about Mozilla making the attack surface of their API bigger without giving me a way to disable it.

    8. Re:Please forgive my ignorance, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A friend of mine uses pocket. He hates the new shit because it's less functional than the old addon. How the fuck?

    9. Re:Please forgive my ignorance, by edtice1559 · · Score: 1

      The community has. I didn't know about it until this thread. So here's a link lifted from another comment! https://www.gnu.org/software/g...

    10. Re:Please forgive my ignorance, by iampiti · · Score: 1

      I sure as hell don't like Pocket forced integration either, but I understand that Mozilla must make money to keep going on.
      I don't have a good solution to this problem but it's obviously a very thin line between "acceptable commercial add-ons that make Mozilla money" and "intrusive add-ons that turn users away".
      I'd gladly contribute a few dollars every year if that meant I'd get a cleaner browser but making a Firefox an ad-sponsored or paid without ads product is difficult since it's open source.

    11. Re:Please forgive my ignorance, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why? Everybody wants to get paid. You know, damned well, that they're getting a kickback from the ad revenue from the Pocket folks.

      Which is the entire point of the comment. One of the major reasons people get Firefox is because they want the choice of what goes into their browsers. Now this is being ripped out, just like everything else in Firefox that makes it actually more attractive than Chrome. Plus, this has some nasty privacy implications, not the least of which being that people are forking over their bookmarks to a third party - very likely without realizing what's REALLY going on there.

  22. Three questions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1) Why is this reported as a bug when it's obviously not a bug? Even if Firefox wants to offer Pocket as a built-in add-on, I don't see why the lack of this "feature" is listed as a bug.

    2) From the very first comment, "this will facilitate user choice." How the hell does this facilitate user choice when this add-on is forced on users by being built-in to Firefox? Many users don't know how to use add-ons, so they will effectively have this forced on them.

    3) There's a good fork called Pale Moon. However, as I recall, Pale Moon is actually supported on fewer systems than in the past. It seems like this is because there aren't enough developers to maintain the browser for more platforms. Why isn't there more developer support for Pale Moon? It seems like developers who contribute good features to Firefox would also be able to share that code with Pale Moon. Why isn't there more developer support?

  23. How long till nobody else cares about Firefox? by etinin · · Score: 1

    They're almost done digging their own grave. It's slightly sad when you remember how they were pushing the limits of the internet in pre-1.0 and ~2.0 versions. But, nowadays, except maybe for Safari, which is still usable only because of Google contributions to Apple's codebase, Firefox has managed to be the slowest moving of the major browsers. Heck, even MS is being forced into getting community feedback for Edge and is actually implementing requested features, while mozilla continually spits at their users' face.

    --
    "I decided I could write something better than everything out there in two weeks. And I was right." - Linus Torvalds
    1. Re:How long till nobody else cares about Firefox? by triffid_98 · · Score: 2

      You can have my Firefox when you can pry Firebug from my cold dead hands...or they make a really nice port of it for other browsers.

      Edge is a bit faster, but using it for script development/debugging? Really kind of a pain in the ass.

    2. Re:How long till nobody else cares about Firefox? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The "Build in" developer tools of Pale Moon are heavily based on Firebug. ;-)

  24. Isn't pocket just bookmarks by rsilvergun · · Score: 2

    that somebody gets to track and probably use to serve ads? I can't see a use case for pocket.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:Isn't pocket just bookmarks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sharing bookmarks easily between Pocket logins

    2. Re:Isn't pocket just bookmarks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The use case is to save a book mark on one computer (or smart phone) and read it on another. I view it as a better bookmark. I like it as an add-on and installed it as such. I don't love that its built into ff, as it seems opposed to the open web ideals of Mozilla. Local storage of bookmarks seems like the wrong way to go to me.

  25. Re:I hate social media by Cito · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Hehe,

    Yea, I was thinking up some humorous opposite to social media. Every website is now tied into Facebook and Google plus with share and plus and thumbs up icons, that track users every move online. And the use of tracking cookies so once you ever return to site they get a history where you went.

    Social media is the culprit that allows spying like NSA does, how folks get doxxed, etc. It's my opinion websites should have never fell for the trap adding Google analytics code, Stay counter, Facebook, Google plus, double click, twitter, etc

    Since every single site is connected back to Facebook, Plus, Twitter

    You don't need to get access to other site's logs, you got all the federal, tracking cookies, every single site a user has surfed daily can be logged.

    So my satire on the antisocial media. I wish these sites would all unlink from social sites. Remove Facebook, analytics, stay counter and double click tracking which all are even here on Slashdot.

    I already use adblock with 5 blocklists for various things from tracker blocklists , ad lists, social media blocking, anti adblock blocks, then noscript, then greasemonkey plugin script running 'antiAdblock killer'

    Just to get a look at content like we had in 90s.

    I see the web like a newspaper if I want to cut out an article and toss rest in trash, or pull the comics out and toss rest in trash I can.

    Web site owners want the freedom to do what they want on their sites, which is fine, but they scream and cry and don't want users to have freedom to use the web how the user wants. To those site owners that's why I say "fuck off"

    And my idea for Antisocial Media Web 3.0 :-P

  26. Re:I hate social media by FooAtWFU · · Score: 1

    It's election season. Ignoring all the political news sources with the Facebook "I don't want to see this" control is one of the most pro-social things you can do :)

    --
    The World Wide Web is dying. Soon, we shall have only the Internet.
  27. or... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just use Chromium

  28. Too little too late by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

    I ran Palemoon for a while but it was still slow compared to Chrome. There is a reason Firefox is tanking and Chrome is growing. The product is simply better.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    1. Re:Too little too late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      does chrome have noscript?

      last I checked, their extension model wasn't powerful enough to allow such an addon so there are only imitations available.

    2. Re:Too little too late by KGIII · · Score: 1

      You can get uMatrix which is a billion and three times better than NoScript. I'm an Opera user and was disappointed with the lack of NoScript but then I found uMatrix and took the time to learn to use it. It's much, much more powerful. There is a slight learning curve but it's all good. You can export your settings as a .JSON and import them or back them up. 'Tis pretty awesome once you get past the learning curve and it's not that steep. It's like an old-school software firewall for your browser.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    3. Re:Too little too late by Threni · · Score: 1

      Sadly, chrome on android doesn't support plugins. What, i'm going to look at ads, suffer trackers and run whatever javascript any twat wants me to? No, that's not for me, thanks. The "chrome is fast" this is old, too. Used to be relevant, when all other browsers were slow, sucky pieces of shit but they've upped their game. Is chrome still the fastest? Don't care - firefox is plenty fast enough.

    4. Re:Too little too late by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Clearly, you've never actually run a recent version of Firefox. Chrome is enormous and slow.

  29. Windows 10 Spyware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just as a heads up, all of the data gathering and reporting to Microsoft stuff that you're hating on were back-ported to Windows 7 and 8 via Windows update as a critical update. I don't know if they back-ported it to Vista or not as I've never worked with it.

    -TheReaperD (937405)

    1. Re:Windows 10 Spyware by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      Got a .bat that fixes all that shit, they even update it every month in case MSFT tries more backdoor BS. Here it is if anybody needs it.

      As for the Coward that posted a link to Debian? Sorry but I don't support an OS that goes against its own charter to force shit down its users throats, if I wanted that shit I'd take Windows 10.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    2. Re:Windows 10 Spyware by KGIII · · Score: 1

      What do your customers do with their computers, usually? Check out GhostBSD or even PCBSD. If you want a decent ecosystem in the Linux world, that means systemd is going to be there, if not now then shortly. Personally, it's not bad at all in my experience. However, if you want to stay away from it, GhostBSD would probably be a good choice for you and your customers - it's solid, secure, and pretty easy to figure out. If you've just got average customers doing average things then it may well be an option.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    3. Re:Windows 10 Spyware by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      The problem is they ALL have at least a couple Windows programs they consider "must have", I don't care if they are 15 or 50. Why do you think MSFT can put out not one, not two, but THREE clunker releases in a row and still not have to worry about any real competition on X86? Its because of the network effect and how much software out there is Windows only.

      This is why I truly believe tablets are a fad and will die down to the level netbooks are now, people quickly find their software won't run and end up abandoning them. You'd be surprised how many folks I have trying to sell me their tablets dirt cheap simply because they can't find a real use for the things, I know I ended up giving mine away simply because I couldn't find a use for the thing that wasn't better served by my netbook running Windows.

      Its a shame but from what I've been seeing Linux is just as divided and fractured as its always been, Apple is too proprietary and pricey, so most likely somebody will release a "Gamers Edition" of Win 10 with the spying stripped out and that will be what they end up using. BSD may be fine if all you need is a browser but I have yet to meet this mythical user and if they did exist? I'd tell them to just pick up a $50 quad tablet so they didn't need to deal with "update foo broke my driver" issues and the increased app support with the Playstore.

      Its just a damned shame ReactOS seems to be going nowhere fast as THAT is what I really need, something that will run their software without the spying shit.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    4. Re:Windows 10 Spyware by shellbeach · · Score: 1

      As for the Coward that posted a link to Debian? Sorry but I don't support an OS that goes against its own charter to force shit down its users throats, if I wanted that shit I'd take Windows 10.

      ???? You're going to need to explain that one. Are you referring to the adoption of systemd? (That seems a very long way from Microsoft's current actions with Windows 10, but hey, maybe you hate linux but have a soft spot for sysvinit ...)

      Thanks for the link to Pale Moon, though. Looks good!

    5. Re:Windows 10 Spyware by KGIII · · Score: 1

      ReactOS isn't going anywhere but much can be done on GhostBSD - except they'd need alternatives to their Windows software. I can't think of anything that I, personally, need from the Windows side of things so I'm quite happy without it. There is, literally, not one piece of compelling software that makes me even consider using it in a VM. If they've a compelling reason to remain on Windows then I'd probably just leave them on 7 or 8.1 and hope that the tide turns at Microsoft before those are completely EOLed. ISTR that 7 was due to get security updates until 2020 or maybe 2022. So, you've got some space to work with.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    6. Re:Windows 10 Spyware by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      Vista is EOLed in 2017 so I have to find an alternative for those users or start stocking up on Windows 8 boxes.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    7. Re:Windows 10 Spyware by unixisc · · Score: 1

      I have an iPad that I just love. I also have an Android tablet that I got for free, but now, the sound has stopped working, so I'm looking at any tablet that runs Marshmallow - that way, I can make the SD card the 'internal' memory and make it as big as I need to. I generally use Android tablets to access my Kindle books and Vevo music. I also have a Winbook which I use to download my favorite music videos from YouTube, and then save. I'm looking at getting a Surface as well down the road, in addition to this PC-BSD laptop that I'm typing on, and a Windows laptop that I use for work. The latter I upgraded from 8 to 10, and have no issues w/ it, except one that I mentioned earlier - it's forcing daily reboots to do the latest updates. I'd like to be able to control that frequency to make it weekly or monthly.

    8. Re:Windows 10 Spyware by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Does GhostBSD only come w/ the choices of LXDE and MATE? If yes, why not consider PC-BSD, which has a whole variety of DEs, including Cinnamon, MATE and even GNOME 3 classic and GNOME 3 (the last 2 I don't recommend) Also, I don't use Windows software under PC-BSD since I have Windows boxes as well, but if I needed to, couldn't I run that software under WINE? Is there much 64-bit only Windows software that wouldn't run under WINE?

    9. Re:Windows 10 Spyware by unixisc · · Score: 1

      Another thing for PC-BSD that I forgot to mention - it has Chromium, as opposed to Chrome. So the spyware that one associates w/ the latter ain't there. I watch all YouTube videos on that, when I am not using one of the tablets.

    10. Re: Windows 10 Spyware by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wish it were so... But Windows is tied to esoteric hardware needs, like chilled, temperature regulated CCD cameras for digital astro photography through computer controlled telescopes. Drivers, control programs, polar alignment and autoguiding software for telescope mounts, etc.

      I expect the same is true for software components of other scientific gear, too. When people say there are no compelling Windows apps, they too often mean games, word processing, databases, etc... Not the things that really are hard to get working otherwise.

    11. Re:Windows 10 Spyware by KGIII · · Score: 1

      GhostBSD only comes with the two but I am given to understand that you can use other DE if you want to install them. I've never done so. I'm a fan of LXDE but I find MATE to be quite workable with GhostBSD. I have played with PC-BSD a few times and it just seemed, well, rudimentary. I do like basic and functional but PC-BSD looks a whole lot like Windows 95. I admit, I did not spend enough time with it to go on and try to find other DE - at all. I simply used the stock configuration or a while until I decided to try something else.

      Anything that runs in WINE on Linux should work fine in BSD. I don't do a whole lot in WINE, I don't actually do anything except test software for other people to see if I can get it to work for them. I don't rely on any Windows applications so it isn't of much use for me. I do know that it will not support 64 bit apps, well that's what I've been told. However, as you mention, most aren't 64 bit apps and many of those that are actually have a 32 bit version as well.

      There's a Linux abstraction layer but I've not played with it as much as I'd like. Thus, I'm not qualified to opine. I dare say that PC-BSD is a nice OS but just not for me. That's probably my fault - I haven't given it a whole lot of time. I'm kind of OS agnostic and will use what suits my needs and I tend to meander back and fourth through the distros as I see fit, driven by curiosity and a need to try new things. My only issue with PC-BSD is that I found it clunky and uncomfortable. While I like basic and appreciate functionality, it was just too basic in appearance for my taste.

      I find the systemd thing overblown. Frankly, I learned a few new commands (they're handy - like journalctl for instance) and have come to appreciate them. The OP was (it looked like) offended that Debian "forced" systemd down their users throats thus I suggested BSD because, from my experience, it's an excellent and stable OS. I still prefer Linux but I'll be doing more work in BSD in the near future. I must, after all, keep learning.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    12. Re: Windows 10 Spyware by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Which is why I was careful to say that it was true only for me. Lots of others have vastly different use-cases. These days? I'm quite OS agnostic but I don't use Windows simply because I don't prefer it. I'll use it, if I must. I don't have to, so I don't. I prefer Linux, it's just more logical to me. I don't mind BSD but there's a lot about it that I've yet to learn. A goodly portion of my career was tied into Sun so I expect to spend more time in BSD-land in the near future. I don't mind OS X but, again, I've not spent enough time there to be "fluent" or even truly adept. It seems like a fine OS from what I've experienced. I own a MBP, maybe. I think my daughter absconded with it when she last visited the house.

      I don't really do the tablet thing - I own a few but I don't like them. I used to have a Motion, years ago, with XP on it. I'm probably going to get a Surface Pro 4 and put Ubuntu on it. I do have a Windows phone that should be here on Monday (the hotel is letting me get it shipped to the lobby). I really dislike Android, so that does make me not quite agnostic. I don't much care for it - it's too needy and my attention is limited. I've even dabbled in the more esoteric OSes like Minix and I've even played with Debian/Hurd.

      So, yeah, I'm not tied into any specific OS nor do I actually need any specific piece of software. I kind of enjoy it. I do much prefer my browser choice (Opera) but I am able to manage with alternatives.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    13. Re:Windows 10 Spyware by Shompol · · Score: 1

      The problem is they ALL have at least a couple Windows programs they consider "must have",

      You can always side-step that Using Wine, or a Virtual Machine. Remote Desktop also works, but I never had to go deeper than the virtual machine. The problem I see is that users panic when they hear that the OS is "Not Windows". I have heard it is possible to make desktop look like Windows, but never tried that myself.

    14. Re:Windows 10 Spyware by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      The problem with VMs if its more complicated than "click icon on desktop and the program runs" my users simply will not be able to handle it. I mean for fucks sake I have doctors for customers, one paid me a $50 service call to reset the wireless on his printer!

      This is the main issue I've found with Linux and BSD, while on the surface it looks like a new modern OS, the second you have to scratch anything below the surface, or use more than a browser and LO? Welcome to 1979 and DOS...I mean Bash prompts.You can remove ALL access to CMD on Windows and users will never notice, and until BSD and Linux can do the same? I'm afraid my users will end up better off with a hacked spyware free version of Windows.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    15. Re:Windows 10 Spyware by Shompol · · Score: 1

      Welcome to 1979 and DOS...I mean Bash prompts.

      Actually, Windows has a 1979 cmd prompt; Bash is ahead by leaps and bounds: adjustable fonts/colors, unicode, piping and redirection. In fact, I am using Cygwin on Windows and Bash works with network drives, while CMD cannot... The funny aspect is that MS copied Unix output redirection: to my amazement a.exe > logfile 2>&1 actually works on Windows "1979" CMD prompt.

      second you have to scratch anything below the surface

      I found Gnome2 to have all the GUI teaks and controls I ever need. Currently experimenting with Cairo (looks like Mac), and it has more tweaks than I bargained for. On the other hand, if you need to "scratch" REALLY DEEP, the infinite maze of Windows menus with redundancy and some working not as advertized, and yet some not working, and no two versions of Windows having identical mazes -- I will take CLI any day, thank you.

    16. Re:Windows 10 Spyware by hairyfeet · · Score: 0

      Uhhh did you miss the you can remove all access to CMD and the OS is fine part? Try removing all access to Bash on Linux, you'll find the OS will not even boot, THAT is how badly Linux depends on something as old and creaky as CLI.

      I'm sorry but until Linux can go 100% without the CLI and still have a perfectly functional OS, where you can do everything without restriction? Then its just not in the same league, sorry. CLI is really only good for 2 things, scripting repetitive tasks and remote administration....guess what home users and SMBs never have need of? Its not intuitive, not discoverable, and in 2015 frankly shouldn't be required.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  30. I have no idea what Pocket is.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ....but I assume I am supposed to be mad that I can't remove it.

  31. What about old Pocket extension?! by itsme1234 · · Score: 1

    From what I gather I'm not in majority but for sure I'm not alone in actually WANTING Pocket and MORE, I want back the FUNCTIONALITY from that extension which is way beyond the stupid FF button. I still have it (thanks to some obscure thread on some other site) but it won't be updated and supported anymore.

    1. Re:What about old Pocket extension?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Interesting.

      So basically it's something like Mozilla building a "Rover Mini" in the hopes of attracting both horse-drawn carriage fans and sports car fans to their product. ;-P

  32. Pale Moon 64-bit edition, tools, add-ons by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 1

    Pale Moon has a 64-bit edition.

    Joke:
    Instead of browser.pocket.enabled = false in Firefox,
    browser.adult.supervision.enabled = true in Pale Moon.

    Pale Moon has tools for backup and migration.

    Adblock Latitude blocks ads. There are other Pale Moon ad-ons, and usually Firefox add-ons work perfectly.

    "Pale Moon Commander ... provides a user-friendly interface to advanced preferences that would otherwise require manual editing of parameters, which can be cumbersome and time-consuming to do."

    1. Re:Pale Moon 64-bit edition, tools, add-ons by cfalcon · · Score: 1

      I think you can also use ublock origin in pale moon? But abl is also good.

  33. FireFUKT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Firefox sold out, went over to the dark side, and became useless a while ago. Pale Moon looks interesting, like Firefox without all the bullshit, but I guess I have to wait until it's available for iOS and OS X.

    1. Re:FireFUKT by KGIII · · Score: 1
      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  34. Stupid Mozilla by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Didn't they say they wanted to remove code to reduce fluff. Well, I'd say this is fluff.

  35. No problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "There are currently no plans to offer a version of Firefox that doesn't include Pocket,"

     
    I currently have no plans to offer a version of Firefox a place on my hard drive. so I guess its fair.

  36. about:config by Zanadou · · Score: 1

    about:config , then

    browser.pocket.enabled

    to "false".

  37. What about the corporate angle? by aix+tom · · Score: 1

    Since we just now are in the process of deciding which browser to use in the system images of ~5.000 machines in a corporate environment this is really big news.

    Having a specific "sort of social media" connection to a third-party service provider hard-wired into the browser, especially one where people can push documents viewed in the browser to, basically puts one further nail into the coffin of Firefox usage as official browser on work machines in my opinion.

  38. Firefox Commercial Edition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seems to me Firefox is becommong more pro-commercialised.

    When do we get another fork just like the move from Mozilla->Firefox->??

    Time to fork again?

  39. hello from Telefonica by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What about that crappy hello thingy from Telefonica?

  40. Use GNU IceCat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.gnu.org/software/gnuzilla/ available for Linux, Windows, Mac.

  41. Fuck Firefox by FudRucker · · Score: 1

    i abandoned that pile of kludge a long time ago, around version 26, i use chromium mostly, and Pale_Moon on occasion,

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
  42. Must have done a deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mozilla must have done a deal with Pocket and that's why its here to stay. Personally, I used to like Firefox back in the early days when function and reliability was Firefox's number one job. Now its become a open source whore of sorts, doing anything to survive and very little to keep users. Its obvious the best days are behind Mozilla and once Google's cash cow left the stable its been all down hill. Yahoo can't save itself let alone Firefox, so don't count on any resurrection of Firefox from Yahoo. My advice to Mozilla with Firefox is stop with the wanna be Chrome initiative. The more you get like Chrome the less individuality you have and the less reason users have to stick with Firefox.

  43. Doesn't FF already do that by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    why a sync option? I've never used it, but IIRC it's there.

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

    Pocket gives me gas.

  45. Out of Sight, Out of Mind by TimSchutte · · Score: 1

    Just right-click on the toolbar, hit "customize" and remove the damned pocket--they can't force you to use it!

  46. "a mixed response from the browser's community" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Mixed response." Ha ha, that's a good one. As if there were some pros and cons. The "mixed" response was everything from, "WTF is 'Pocket'?" to "I'll never use it, so I don't care," to "I'll never use it, so get it the fuck out of my browser."

  47. SeaMonkey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    SeaMonkey
    SeaMonkey
    SeaMonkey