Probably not. Firefox development has already been steered off course since 2011. I'm not sure it is possible to turn things around and make it succeed. I hope it happens, but it probably won't.

I really don't know what to think about Mozilla, but the Bad Voltage dodge certainly smells bad.

I use seamonkey and keep firefox and chromium for spares. Seamonkey just seems a bit less bloated and more responsive to me (and the seamonkey port for OpenBSD is certainly less prone to core dumps than firefox).

I think the "ethical" argument has been done to death. The three major non MS browsers are either google owned or sponsored. They're also the most bloated and "feature rich".

The default search engine and home page settings are the tip of the iceberg.

I used to be a strong supporter of Firefox till it got to the point it was so slow I would be waiting so long I would hit f5 to try and speed it up (sometimes it did). I switched recently to Opera and wow what a speed difference it made, I was shocked, since then I have not touched Firefox

As an update, someone from Mozilla has agreed to an LQ interview. I hope to have it up in the next few days. If you have a question that you'd like asked, feel free to post it in this thread and it's possible I'll include it.

--jeremy

My question, if technical questions are welcome: What is done to keep Firefox (and FWIW, Seamonkey) up to date from a technical point of view (IMHO, it can not compete with Chrome and other Webkit/Blink-Browsers anymore in terms of speed), how far is progress with the new Servo engine and will the extended capabilities for plugins be kept when a change happens. The Pentadactyl plugin I use is, AFAIK, not possible on Chrome and similar browsers due to a lack of capabilities for plugins, so that Chrome users have to use rather featureless copies of Pentadactyl, like Vrome or Vimium.

I do completely point out what Jeremy said. He gave words to my feeling and doubts.
I'm using Mozilla products (FFX and TBD mainly) since their first release, after Mosaic and Netscape 3, - yes I'm not so young - and I share each single point of jeremy report.

I just add, or repeat: May the big Mozilla hear us !

Thank you Jeremy.
My question is : If they intend to proceed on the "in the mood" complication/heavyness way for the mainstream, why not release a "light" version, maybe melted-down within Seamonkey or Iceweasel, that will grant 100 compatibility with FFX add-ons and more agile usage system resources?

I use firefox because most browsers are lacking maintainers, are webkit based or proprietary. And the few that remain either don't work, are unable of keeping up with firefox's fast developmental cycle like the various mozilla forks or are are a hassle to get to look like this.

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You're going on and on and on. Looks like a bill in the capital building. Whittle it down. People don't have time.

I use Palemoon which is less bloated, very stable, and fast.

With respect to security (deleting history, cookies, etc. automatically) chromium is not an option unless you write a script that cleans up after it (which I did). (I also wrote a stop job that cleans up flash and other caches of both browsers, so the Evercookie never had a chance to survive a reboot. - So now you know how pedantic I am about this.)


My questions:
Mozilla(I've used 0.98 for quite some time)/Firefox used to have a lot of capabilities out of the box which now are available via plugins only (mouse gestures, button styles, and, many, more, ...). The more plugins the more bloat, the more bloat the less performance. (How) are developers going to tackle this?
I started to use Chromium because the pages took ages to show up in Firefox. Later I found that it was a buggy (making it slow) internet connection. In other words: Chromium somehow manages to display the page (much) faster than Firefox when the internet connection is the problem! (The difference is not that noticable with a faster (or non-buggy) connection) Are Mozilla developers fixing this?

Firefox was a like a bad marriage. I always hoped things would change for the better.

The forum structure was abysmal
- I could not find anything, with endless menus before creating a thread.
- MozilaZine forum is a clearer structure, quick and to the point
- FireFox support was patchy and too often days waiting for any response, if I was lucky
- glib answers left me no better off

Firefox became unstable over the years
- required a clean install or repair about every 3 months.
- Library new folder/bookmark form is gradually corrupted by clipboard extenders (and infamous FF repair to fix)
(I have tested about 5 clipboard extenders in Firefox)
- despite threads with Firefox forum, the only advice offered was clean install

Three years ago out of frustration I found PaleMoon. Looked just like the Firefox I used to know.
- in 3 years I have not had to fiddle with Palemoon.
- Palemoon has been solid, consistent and a stable tool.

GUI is not an issue for me. I want all controls at my finger tips and not have to click-drill to functionality.
- my browser is a tool so it has to be functional. Skins are IMO toys for boys.

While Mozilla pursue "look alike" pose they miss the point.
- innovate and offer users something different and not just mimic other browsers.

I am an addin developer for AutoCad. 70 in October.
My 2cents worth

The questions were sent over yesterday, and included one question posted here. I'll update this thread with a link once the interview is posted.

--jeremy

I'm thinking the rise of Chrome also has to do with the rise of Android. After buying a tablet recently, I can see why nobody wants to use Firefox on Android, not even me. It is pitifully slow and poorly designed. Maybe focusing on the Android version of Firefox will quickly boost usage, and then with the extra revenue they can fix all the problems with Firefox.