Firefox Removes Core Product Support For RSS/Atom Feeds (gijsk.com)

Starting with Firefox 64, RSS/Atom feed support will be handled via add-ons, rather than in-product. Mozilla's Gijs Kruitbosch writes: After considering the maintenance, performance and security costs of the feed preview and subscription features in Firefox, we've concluded that it is no longer sustainable to keep feed support in the core of the product. While we still believe in RSS and support the goals of open, interoperable formats on the Web, we strongly believe that the best way to meet the needs of RSS and its users is via WebExtensions.

With that in mind, we have decided to remove the built-in feed preview feature, subscription UI, and the "live bookmarks" support from the core of Firefox, now that improved replacements for those features are available via add-ons.

By virtue of being baked into the core of Firefox, these features have long had outsized maintenance and security costs relative to their usage. Making sure these features are as well-tested, modern and secure as the rest of Firefox would take a surprising amount of engineering work, and unfortunately the usage of these features does not justify such an investment: feed previews and live bookmarks are both used in around 0.01% of sessions.

Comments

whoa

[Anonymous Coward]

So I get pocket top sites, autocompletes in my address bar to shit like hilton.com, plus other sponsored nonsense. Yet RSS feeds are too difficult to maintain?

Re:whoa

[danomac]

I hope Pocket is next on the chopping block, it has no reason to be in the main build of Firefox.

Good

[Anonymous Coward]

Anything ancillary to web browsing should be add-ons, including Pocket, whatever that is.

Re:Cue the 0.01% of users who "need" RSS

[hey!]

I think you're looking at the wrong end of the stick.

RSS is useful to any user who wants to monitor many different information sources, but profit for an Internet content provider comes from goosing your engagement metrics.

RSS belongs to an obsolete and idealistic view of the Internet as an instrument for empowering users. The money to be made on the Internet comes from capturing users then analyzing and shaping their opinions and behavior. That's why "smart speakers" are a thing, but content syndication is not.

Re:Cue the 0.01% of users who "need" RSS

[Anonymous Coward]

There are a large number of types of sites that don't have the profit motive you mention. For example, I monitor my congressmen/senators by subscribing to their press release feeds, I monitor some important software projects for updates using it, as well as a number of blogs. These people don't make money by releasing content (some bloggers do for sure, but most of those that I subscribe to do not).

Any content provider who feels that RSS harms their profitability is free to not publish an RSS feed. Still, RSS is very commonly supported.

Not a "need"

[sjbe]

And chances are you've never used a braille terminal in your whole life. Doesn't mean someone else doesn't desperately need it.

Nobody "desperately needs" RSS feeds in core Firefox. There are plenty of RSS readers available for those who need one and it will still be available via extensions which is probably where it always should have been.

Finally

[Chas]

Getting back to being a WEB BROWSER, rather than a shitty swiss-army-knife of pointless non-browser-related "features".

Re: Cue the 0.01% of users who "need" RSS

[Anonymous Coward]

You've got it 100%.
The progressive kill-off of RSS support from news sites and such was pure profit-driven.
They'd rather you see ads, and use scripts to monitor your site usage. (because for some reason, people apparently hovering words randomly matters)

Re:Cue the 0.01% of users who "need" RSS

[hey!]

And yet, people are becoming so accustomed to being treated like sheep, they can't see the point of something that would give them control of their own attention span.