Choose Firefox Now, Or Later You Won't Get A Choice

[cubercaleb]

I use Windows and OS X equally. So, coming from a guy that uses both, (Linux and BSD too but those are tertiary to this point) OS X is less locked in. I think it would serve you well to venture outside Windows land for awhile. It will broaden your horizons and perhaps you will lose many of the misconceptions you have on the subject.

 

My current hardware would not allow me to install OSX without having a million and one driver problems, its imply won't work, and I'm not buying a Mac right now, although I have used OSX and I do like it. I also will not use Linux because due to lack of software support. No MS Office, small selection of games, and no Adobe or Autodesk applications. Yes there are open source alternatives to all these however they are not as powerful and I am quite accustomed to using these softwares. I don't have the time to learn how to use Blender, GIMP, and all the other alternatives, and some of the software I use just don't have any good alternatives. LibreOffice while good for basic essay typing does not have as much functionality as MS Office, same complaint applies to Google Docs, but atleast I can access my documents anywhere I can log into Google Drive.

 

As for personal apps I find the Linux version of Skype to be inferior, its a small chat box like thing and I hate using it. Origin does not exist to no Simcity, Battlefield, of NFS:MW. Netflix support is poor as it uses MS Silverlight on the desktop. The music player alternatives sucks and non are quite like Foobar, plus all of them mess up and scramble the tags of my music. and there is no Linux version of LoL, my favorite passtime other than watching stuff on Netflix.

 

I convert my FLAC to ALAC when I need to, then it syncs with iOS devices. There are solutions to all of the problems which you describe, Google Music can take your iTunes library and sync it to your Android device for example. Please do your research before going on such a rant again.

 

I don't feel like taking the time to convert all my music to ALAc just so I can import it to iTunes, I would much rather use something like Foobar which allows me to use any medium I want, and full customization over the UI, plugins and themes. You can't argue iTunes is a better music player than Foobar, if you do, your stupid. Again, I don't want to buy my music on iTunes, Google Play, or Amazon for reasons described earlier, I like my lossless audio files. The same principle applies with Movies and TV shows.

 

I don't think you read the entire article if you're saying IE is a suitable alternative. IE has absolutely zero open source parts and has been trying to lock you in to the Microsoft ecosystem from the very start.

 

Agreed

 

Yes, it's such a shame I don't like Android, because obviously only smart people like Android and only stupid people like iOS. You have a very dichotomized view of the world that unfortunately I think you will find I do not fit into.

 

I actually like iOS, however due to the fact that it is closed down to one line of devices, and can't be installed on any other, and those devices don't suit my needs, I look elsewhere. 

 

Google's entire business model is based off of collecting your data and using it to sell you. If you're not paying for anything, you're the product. Chrome is designed specifically to collect absolutely everything about how you browse the web, which ads attract you the most, how long you spend on different sites, etc.

 

So? I would rather have ads and site recommendations that cater to my interests. While I don't buy media content off of Amazon or Google, because they both analyze my web browsing data they tend to show me things that I might be interested in, and they are pretty damn good at it. Google Play also analyzes the apps, music, movies, and Tv shows on your Android devices to make recommendations on media to buy, which is how I discover new content. Same with Youtube. 

 

That's what I don't like about Chrome. It's locking you in to an ecosystem by preventing you from using other features of Drive like offline in other browsers as well. They don't give a shit about "openness," their goal is money. They've just realized that open source is an attractive marketing tool for geeks like us and sure enough, we've flocked to it in droves. Firefox has always and will always be completely open source, and Mozilla's success does not hinge on how much data they can collect about their users' browsing habits.

 

Exept Chrome works on any device and you can install it on any device, while having it synced to all your other devices with Chrome. Safari is locked to iOS and OSX, IE just flat out sucks, Opera is a Chrome rip off, and Firefox doesn't have as smooth of syncing and integration as Chrome. Chrome does not force you to own a Google device. You don't have to buy a Chromebook to use chrome, you don't have to have an Andriod device to stream to a Chrome Cast, etc. 

[Sharp_3yE]

I don't use many Google products anymore. I do use google but I also use Bing. Of course I use YouTube but not google plus, Gmail, or other products like their storage or google docs. In fact, I use a lot of Microsoft products. Skype, windows 8.1, sometimes IE but usually Firefox, OneDrive, MS Office, and I even have a windows phone.

Ok, I've tried google chrome and liked it untill it started to fail on me. The flashplayer always crashed and there were just problems. I installed it again and then it worked for a little while but the same problems happens again. So I switched backed to Firefox and IE as a back up browser.

I personally try multiple products and test them against their competition or check out reviews so I'm not an ignorant shopper but I am going away from google.

Some of their stuff is the best but I don't trust Google and would rather have others things that worked together better such as windows phone 8.1 and windows 8.1.

[Builder]

A lot of contradictory statements. However, your first statement mentions IE is not open source. Whilst that is true, so? Why does it need to be? There are many other browsers out there, IE was the first that came into my head. Don't like IE? Use another. You missed the point. 

 

I'm in no way suggesting that you should like Android. I'm of the opinion that everyone should use what they PERSONALLY prefer. You like iOS, good for you. Who am I to tell you it's wrong? iOS works for your needs, Android works for mine.

 

You say Google controls most of the internet, but that's not true. They don't control the internet. They CAN control what people see on the internet, if they are using Google search. They can't force Google search upon people. If Google was so set in it's ways on controlling what everyone sees on the internet, why did they argue about the "right to be forgotten" where they were forced by a governing body to remove links? They argued that it was censoring the internet and they are in fact correct. Why would they say that to then go back and do as you suggest? They can control the adverts as you say, because people pay for the adverts, don't be silly. And so what if they tailor adverts to your search history? They aren't forcing you to by the products they display, it's not even their own products. If they do censor their competitors, why haven't they censored Apple from the results, or Bing for search, or Microsoft?

 

Chrome doesn't lock you into an ecosystem. How is Apple any different in that you have to use iTunes to be able to get anything onto the iPhone? Is that not an ecosystem? Once again, why does everything need to be open source? You would be naive to think that Mozilla doesn't collect any data about you, it's inevitable. You also forget about how much Google gives away for free. 

 

It seems quite clear that you've set out on a personal vendetta against the company for some apparent reason. 

@cubercaleb, yes but we're talking about lock-in to the Google ecosystem specifically. Dropping support for other Drive features from other browsers, no push support for Gmail in Mail for iOS (to make you download their app).

 

The advertisements are psychological warfare designed to make you want to buy things. If you don't know this already then you do now. You can purchase something and think you're making an educated decision but you're subconsciously following the device of an ad. They're hypocrites for not allowing the right to be forgotten, they censored vivint after buying Nest and they censored RapGenius too. They don't care about freedom of information one bit, they like to control the information they give you through filter bubbles which feed your confirmation bias and make you happy to use their search engine. 

 

You seem to not understand the difference between "free" and "open source." Open source means they distribute the source freely, and it is licensed specifically to allow its reuse in other projects, most likely through a BSD, GNU, or MIT license. Google is giving it away for free because that's the way to get the most people and therefore the most money. It's all about data collection. Just because they give stuff away does not mean they're benevolent. 

 

You don't need iTunes to get anything onto the iPhone. You can use Spotify and a host of other services, or you can even buy from the iTunes Store on your device.

 

I'm not arguing against ecosystems. I'm arguing against barriers to their interoperability with the internet. What Apple puts on their devices is their decision. They want to lock their devices down, fine. It's their choice. You can dislike it and think it's detrimental to their business model, but it's their choice, their hardware.

 

What Google does is public. Their stuff is on the internet. By making certain parts of their services "Chrome exclusive," they're locking down the internet and setting a precedent for doing so. Same with WebP. You already can't download WebP photos without a plugin, and this XKCD explains why it's bad http://xkcd.com/927/. The internet is public, in fact I'm even of the mind that it should be a right. I don't think Google or Apple or anyone for that matter should be able to lock it down the way Google is trying to. I don't even think they should have the monopoly on search that they do, but when they put "Download Chrome for a Faster Web" on their homepage, they're essentially claiming all of the non-tech users browser usage. Personally I think it's equivalent to Microsoft forcing users to use IE, which they got sued over and to this day have to correct in the EU.

[LarsReviews]

Google Chrome I will never leave you. You are my only one (for browsing the web)!!!

[Builder]

Google Chrome I will never leave you. You are my only one (for browsing the web)!!!

Why not?

[LarsReviews]

Why not?

 

Because it seems to be faster and I like the tab design better.

[Guest]

Because it seems to be faster and I like the tab design better.

What's better about chrome's tabs? IMO tab management is one area where firefox is objectively better. For example chrome completely lacks any form of tab overflow, which is rather annoying when browsing with many tabs open.

[LarsReviews]

What's better about chrome's tabs? IMO tab management is one area where firefox is objectively better. For example chrome completely lacks any form of tab overflow, which is rather annoying when browsing with many tabs open.

 

Looks fine to me

 

[Builder]

Looks fine to me

 

He's right. Look:

The tabs just start running over the rest of the UI. Terrible, just terrible.

[AxelRantila]

Personally think?

Have you used firefox's variant? Please make it clear if you have - it is just about as seamless as google's approach, the difference being it is a specific firefox account rather than an all purpose google account, which is a boon for some, a downside for others but doesnt affect me at all.

Yes I've tried both. Just happened to like Chrome's better with the fact that I can use my Google account

[Builder]

Yes I've tried both. Just happened to like Chrome's better with the fact that I can use my Google account

You can make your Firefox credentials the same as the ones for your Google account.

[dingernalt]

I read an article not to long ago, when the whole NSA think happened, and he explained the alternatives for most of Google's services. From there I got Firefox (I knew Firefox of course, I just didn't use it) and duckduckgo.com. I have never used Gmail. Of course I still use Youtube and Android because there is no actual alternative.

 

I really like duckduckgo.com, and if it fails me, all I have to do is put a !g at the end of it and it will search on Google.

Firefox is just as good/bad as Chrome... Chrome used to be very fast, now it is just as bloated as any other browser...

[Builder]

I read an article not to long ago, when the whole NSA think happened, and he explained the alternatives for most of Google's services. From there I got Firefox (I knew Firefox of course, I just didn't use it) and duckduckgo.com. I have never used Gmail. Of course I still use Youtube and Android because there is no actual alternative.

 

I really like duckduckgo.com, and if it fails me, all I have to do is put a !g at the end of it and it will search on Google.

Firefox is just as good/bad as Chrome... Chrome used to be very fast, now it is just as bloated as any other browser...

WhiteHat Aviator is also good, depending on your level of paranoia. It's Chromium with all of the Google spyware lysed out of it.

 

You can use iOS, though I doubt you'd switch.

 

That's a good DDG tip. I thought you had to put your bangs at the start of your query, like "!g ccleaner." You can also use "password [length]"

[LAwLz]

All I see in this thread is "my browser is better and you're stupid if you're using anything else!".

 

Browsers are subjective, like media players, games, phones, cars, chairs, etc. I like Chrome because it does what I want it to. Vanilla Firefox fits many others' preferences and I'm not going to bash them for liking that. Doing so is fucking retarded and you should get out.

 

People like Metro, others don't. Deal with it.

Ehh... But Media players aren't subjective. Phones are in many aspects not subjective either. You can discuss browsers in an objective manner as well. For example Firefox is in some cases faster than Chrome, uses less RAM, is open source, much more fine tuning available to the user and has far better addons support. All of those are objective things.

[ZeroBreaker]

Yes I've tried both. Just happened to like Chrome's better with the fact that I can use my Google account

Exactly, some people like that whole thing. Its good that you are happier with something, in the end all this guy asked for is a chance to see if it would work better and they cant ask for anything more.

[Techhog]

I don't think you read the entire article if you're saying IE is a suitable alternative. IE has absolutely zero open source parts and has been trying to lock you in to the Microsoft ecosystem from the very start.

"Literally every ecosystem except Apple's is bad." That's what i'm getting from you.

 

You can make your Firefox credentials the same as the ones for your Google account.

I love how you bring up security as a point, only to suggest this later. 

[Builder]

"Literally every ecosystem except Apple's is bad." That's what i'm getting from you.

That's not what I said at all. Have you even been reading my stuff?

[cubercaleb]

That's not what I said at all. Have you even been reading my stuff?

 

Yes and thats what most people such as me and Techhog have inferred from what you have been spewing.

[cubercaleb]

Ehh... But Media players aren't subjective. Phones are in many aspects not subjective either. You can discuss browsers in an objective manner as well. For example Firefox is in some cases faster than Chrome, uses less RAM, is open source, much more fine tuning available to the user and has far better addons support. All of those are objective things.

 

Elaborate on the media players and phones being objective.

[Builder]

After reading through your posts you just seems like a fucking Apple fanboy, iSheep, or whatever you want to call it.

You're hilarious. Look into Gmail push for iOS. You seriously just refuse to admit Google does anything bad, don't you? 

 

Fine, call me names. Real mature. I've been called every name in the book on this forum, and suffice it to say they don't mean anything so they're monikers I'm glad to have .

Yes and thats what most people such as me and Techhog have inferred from what you have been spewing.

Well you infer from a biased standpoint. You don't seem to do any research before posting, which is why your posts are riddled with factual errors. You seem to think that iTunes and Amazon and Google use DRM, while I know for a fact that iTunes and Amazon don't. If you want to use your phone like a hard drive, fine. I want to use my internet with a hard drive. You hypocritically won't let me because your Google bias tells you that while it's ok for them to make me use Chrome to use parts of their products, it's not okay for Apple to make you use iTunes for largely the same purpose.

[cubercaleb]

You're hilarious. Look into Gmail push for iOS. You seriously just refuse to admit Google does anything bad, don't you? 

 

I never said Google is all good, I personally hate the crap they have done to Youtube over the past few years and I wish they would revert it and not touch it again. I also don't like that they removes certain features from Gmail that are quite useful. 

 

Well you infer from a biased standpoint. You don't seem to do any research before posting, which is why your posts are riddled with factual errors. You seem to think that iTunes and Amazon and Google use DRM, while I know for a fact that iTunes and Amazon don't.

 

Never said Amazon/Google/iTunes use DRM, however I did say I prefer my media in lossless format, and none of them offer that digitally. What can you not understand about that, I have have said it a million times at this point. Also, iTunes has DRM in the sense that you need iTunes installed on at least one device to download the content. With Amazon and Google, I can download content through the browser without needed an application thats slow.

 

If you want to use your phone like a hard drive, fine.

 

Right, and until I can use iOS devices like a hard drive then I won't buy one.

 

I want to use my internet with a hard drive.

 

What the hell does this even mean? Does it mean you want to pay for cloud storage to store all your media, which costs money and is not as affective? 

 

You hypocritically won't let me because your Google bias tells you that while it's ok for them to make me use Chrome to use parts of their products, it's not okay for Apple to make you use iTunes for largely the same purpose.

 

​Chrome is a browser that is better compared to Safari, not iTunes. Let me ask you this, can you get Safari on Windows or Android? No, you can't. Also, the windows version of iTunes runs like shit, and its also non-existent on Android. Google doesn't lock services to their own devices, yes they lock it to their own software to an extend but again, Chrome isn't locked down to Chrome OS and Android, is it? Do you have to buy a Chromebook or Android tablet to get the best Chrome and Google experience? No. Do you have to get a Mac or iDevice to use Safari and have the best iTunes experience, because again iTunes runs like shit on Windows and is not on Linux, ohh wait, the answer to that is yes.

 

Arguing with you is kind of like arguing with a fundamentalist christian.

[Builder]

Arguing with you is kind of like arguing with a fundamentalist christian.

How many times do I have to tell you "I run Windows" before it gets through your thick skull? Seriously.

 

I think my work here is done. You can't even stay coherent in your opinions, flip-flopping when it suits your case.

[cubercaleb]

How many times do I have to tell you "I run Windows" before it gets through your thick skull? Seriously.

 

I think my work here is done. You can't even stay coherent in your opinions, flip-flopping when it suits your case.

 

Really, it seems like you run OSX as your main OS

[Builder]

Really, it seems like you run OSX as your main OS

Because you haven't been reading my posts.

[cubercaleb]

Because you haven't been reading my posts.

Ohh I have, in case you haven't noticed I make direct replies to every paragraph you make, you seems to generalize.