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Michael Goff

Suspended
Jul 5, 2012
13,329
7,421
True, anyone can be a developer, just like anyone can be a doctor or anyone can be a rocket engineer or anyone can be president of the United Stares. I wasn't asking if you could be a developer, I was asking whether you were a developer.

It is a special club, just like any other grouping of people that know things that most other people don't.

It matters because I could either speak as one developer to another regarding this topic or I could say "I don't tell you how to do your job; you don't tell me how to do my job. Deal?" If it turns out our jobs are the same job, we're actually qualified to make suggestions to each other and such a deal doesn't make sense.

So I repeat, are you a developer?

Yes.

Yes I am.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
Try I was just making a snarky comment in regards to how often Firefox seems to update their software. We all understand the concept of software updates.:rolleyes:

Could somebody point me to the "no-humor" rule for these forums because I never seem to learn.
Just like there can be snarky comments there can be snarky or not so snarky replies to them. Right? Right.
 

Brandon263

macrumors 6502
Sep 12, 2009
404
37
Beaumont, CA
I don´t use FF since one year ago, it was excruciating for my Mac.

I find Firefox, with it's tab mechanism, highlight search function, implementation of pinch to zoom and privacy options more convenient to use than Safari. I really like the dictionary/Wikipedia lookup in Safari, but the fact that Safari doesn't have a clear cache when browser closes function is a deal breaker.
 

Krafty

macrumors 601
Dec 31, 2007
4,439
308
La La Land
I don´t use FF since one year ago, it was excruciating for my Mac.
Same here. After heavy browsing., it eats up about 2GB of RAM and responds really slowly. It also gets slow when browsing sites like tumblr and after scrolling, it starts to lag and the fans start flaring.

Still, I use it cause of the add-ons.
 

JosephAW

macrumors 603
May 14, 2012
5,946
7,895
"Enhanced Social API Support"
I'm still waiting for the day when all these social sites will stop using 3rd party plugins like flash and siverlight. I stopped using these insecure plugins altogether. Other than that ff 21 is pretty snappy.
 

Yvan256

macrumors 603
Jul 5, 2004
5,081
998
Canada
For anyone who's wondering why some people hate the new "fast major version numbers" thing, here's the explanation.

When signing contracts with clients, we used to be able to say things like "your website will work on the current versions of browsers and one previous major version". So if Firefox was version 7 when signing, the website would be compatible with a version from a year or so ago, more or less. Different browsers had different update windows.

But now, what can you say? By the time you start talking to the client about their website and delivering it, both Chrome and Firefox will probably have increased by 5 versions, if not more.
 

thepowerofnone

macrumors member
Apr 10, 2011
97
7
So the browser would mystically be better if this was version 6.5 instead of 21? Because I'm trying to think of this from a PRACTICAL standpoint.

Why not just re-name it and start with .1 and go from there? We could all use Phoenix Fire version .1 for 6 weeks and then it goes to .2 and so forth. Because the browser's performance is dependent on versioning!

No, don't be silly, it would not be mystically better, but releasing updates numbers in a X.Y.Z makes it much easier to track as a consumer which major improvements you can expect from each version. Everyone who says "its just a number, what does it matter" ask yourself, why not just release their updates in a completely random, non sequential order, and just pick a number between 1 and 1000 out of thin air. The answer is obviously that the number gives you an indication of what to expect from the version you are running, and by having an order you can assume that the higher the number, the better the program, and for developers it gives them an idea of what features they can and can't utilise in this version to made a successful addon or module for the program. Using decimal points just gives the user even MORE information about the quality of the update: is it a big leap or a little leap. It is a well established convention in computing and Mozilla are choosing to ignore it just to have the biggest number.
 

Parasprite

macrumors 68000
Mar 5, 2013
1,698
144
Anyone else remember when FireFox wasnt a joke?

When I used Windows I preferred IE or Opera over Firefox, when I used Linux I used Konquerer or Opera, my Android phone had Dolphin or Opera, and now that I have my Mac I stick with Chrome.

So, no I don't remember.
 

Parasprite

macrumors 68000
Mar 5, 2013
1,698
144
I guess I missed the punchline. What was the funny part?

A running joke, think like "Safari is snappier :D". I think FF's especially slow release cycle for major point upgrades contrasted with the new system is the joke.

Whether that is funny or not... well...

At least it's snappier.
 

Verbatim Cookie

macrumors regular
Mar 20, 2012
119
0
Few use IE
Wat.jpg


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers

ಠ_ಠ
:rolleyes:
 

Macrolido

macrumors regular
May 14, 2012
197
8
Monterrey, Mexico
I find Firefox, with it's tab mechanism, highlight search function, implementation of pinch to zoom and privacy options more convenient to use than Safari. I really like the dictionary/Wikipedia lookup in Safari, but the fact that Safari doesn't have a clear cache when browser closes function is a deal breaker.

I prefer Google Chrome.
 

calderone

Cancelled
Aug 28, 2009
3,743
352
True, anyone can be a developer, just like anyone can be a doctor or anyone can be a rocket engineer or anyone can be president of the United Stares. I wasn't asking if you could be a developer, I was asking whether you were a developer.

It is a special club, just like any other grouping of people that know things that most other people don't.

It matters because I could either speak as one developer to another regarding this topic or I could say "I don't tell you how to do your job; you don't tell me how to do my job. Deal?" If it turns out our jobs are the same job, we're actually qualified to make suggestions to each other and such a deal doesn't make sense.

So I repeat, are you a developer?


This made me laugh. Thank you.

Because ONLY developers can have a discussion about developer matters.
 

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,557
6,057
This made me laugh. Thank you.

Because ONLY developers can have a discussion about developer matters.

His total ignorance of APIs made it impossible to continue a discussion with him. As someone who makes plugins, I need to be told if a new version is going to require my plugin to change. Firefox's lack of organization with their numbering makes it impossible for me to be able to gauge how different their API without me looking at it all, and given they release a new version every week, I don't want to bother. Fortunately, I don't make Firefox plugins so it doesn't matter, but if Apple started following the same pattern, that would be problematic for me.
 

Michael Goff

Suspended
Jul 5, 2012
13,329
7,421
His total ignorance of APIs made it impossible to continue a discussion with him. As someone who makes plugins, I need to be told if a new version is going to require my plugin to change. Firefox's lack of organization with their numbering makes it impossible for me to be able to gauge how different their API without me looking at it all, and given they release a new version every week, I don't want to bother. Fortunately, I don't make Firefox plugins so it doesn't matter, but if Apple started following the same pattern, that would be problematic for me.

Actually, I basically just said that it should work how it does work.

I'm the ignorant one, though, right?

How will this process work?
There are three key parts:

Firefox and platform developers should take add-on compatibility into account with any changes they make. Add-on compatibility will be included in the criteria for changes being promoted to Aurora and Beta channels. It’s especially important to minimize breaking changes for Firefox 5 & 6 when the Add-on SDK is not yet stable. Once released this summer, the Add-on SDK will be an excellent alternative to dealing with compatibility.

Before any compatibility-breaking changes land, Firefox developers should follow a standardized compatibility notification process with a description of the change, the reasons for the change, and patterns we can look for in add-ons to identify those affected. This will be used to update documentation, make blog posts, and add the patterns to the AMO compatibility scanner.

The day before we branch for Aurora, AMO’s compatibility scanner will be run on the latest versions of all add-ons compatible with the most recent release. Any add-ons flagged as potentially incompatible or that use binary components will not have their compatibility bumped and the authors will receive an email with the identified problems. After testing and fixing any problems, the author can then manually set compatibility and rejoin the automatic process for future releases. Add-ons that have not been flagged will have their compatibility bumped to the new version.
 

calderone

Cancelled
Aug 28, 2009
3,743
352
His total ignorance of APIs made it impossible to continue a discussion with him. As someone who makes plugins, I need to be told if a new version is going to require my plugin to change. Firefox's lack of organization with their numbering makes it impossible for me to be able to gauge how different their API without me looking at it all, and given they release a new version every week, I don't want to bother. Fortunately, I don't make Firefox plugins so it doesn't matter, but if Apple started following the same pattern, that would be problematic for me.

If you can read API documentation*, it shouldn't be a problem at all. I don't think Michael Goff exhibited any "ignorance." You jumped on your high horse and automatically eschewed him from your special developer club.

*This of course assumes decent and navigable documentation.
 

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,557
6,057
If you can read API documentation*, it shouldn't be a problem at all. I don't think Michael Goff exhibited any "ignorance." You jumped on your high horse and automatically eschewed him from your special developer club.

*This of course assumes decent and navigable documentation.

They update it every few weeks. I don't want to have to check to make sure the API hasn't changed every week - generally if the major number hasn't changed, it's a good indicator that nothing from the API has been removed. It's interesting that Mozilla sends out automated notifications to developers when their plugins break during beta tests - that does seem to resolve my complaint.
 

MacGizmo

macrumors 68040
Apr 27, 2003
3,061
2,384
Arizona
People just like to complain. I'm not a huge fan of Firefox anymore, but honest to gosh, does it really matter what version number a web browser carries?
 
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