# Firefox, you piece of shit!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 4, 2019, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455 "2019-05-04T02:49:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![UnwittingAmericans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d9b06d/32.png) [@UnwittingAmericans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwittingAmericans)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/43 "2019-05-04T18:38:12Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > What’s the issues with Chrome? I had no idea it was a browser some folks regard with as much distaste as IE. I used to use Firefox/Mozilla but when Chrome came out I switched to it and haven’t noticed any change in my browsing experience. Is it a power user type of thing? I do run some sort of ad blocker on Chrone, but not a heck of a lot else. 1. It’s a pig. 2. Don’t wanna switch and then have to find all the equivalent settings 3. Me no trust Google I picture Google as the AI. I picture Mozilla as like a dozen Mustard Guys. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/44 "2019-05-04T19:38:48Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > So I’m happily watching a movie on my laptop and when it’s over I go to browse the web. Wait, WTF are all these ads doing here?! I run AdBlock and NoScript and a few other extensions to prevent that kind of thing. > > Oh, it seems Firefox just “improved” itself with an update that renders all of those extensions unusable! Nope, can’t re-install them. I guess I’m supposed to say, “Thanks FF, for taking such a useful action on my behalf, without my asking.” > > FUCK YOU!!! > > How the in god’s name is this an “improvement”?! My computer is now LESS secure because I can’t use these extension! What the ever loving fuck?!?! And don’t tell me it’s for my own good. I’ve never had computer security issues because of the various measures I take. And this kind of heavy handedness and mindless updates that do fuck-all for users is why I usually disable automatic updates. For exactly this kind of nonsense. Except I’m on a new computer and forgot to turn off that “feature”. Lucky me. > > So unless someone has any ideas on how to recover these features, I’m off to find another browser. This kind of thing really pisses me off and forcing these “improvements” through updates needs to fucking stop. It was a glitch. It’s already fixed. If your browser hasn’t upgraded itself then you can force it to update. Then shut it down and open it again. I’m a bit perplexed that you didn’t suspect it was a glitch from the start and do a bit of reading. It happened last night and it’s fixed in less than 12 hrs. If you feel wronged then ask for a refund of your purchase price from Firefox and Adblock. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/45 "2019-05-04T19:56:37Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > If you feel wronged then ask for a refund of your purchase price from Firefox and Adblock. Well fuck me. I agree with Magiver. Feel free to go tell Mozilla, the non-profit foundation that develops Firefox and gives it to you for free, that you’re going to take your business to Microsoft and Google, who have your best interests at heart 100% of the time. All because a few features of the thing you paid $0 for stopped working for 12 hours. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/46 "2019-05-04T20:44:26Z")
They’re rolling out a fix, but it’s ridiculous that this has happened twice now. It’s one thing when a smaller site that doesn’t know what they are doing slips up. But why in the world isn’t Mozilla on top of this? And, no, the fact that they give away for free does not make them immune to criticism. There is nothing rational about such an argument. Why do people keep making it? Let’s use **black rabbit** ’s argument in a different context. I give away free bottled water. Unfortunately, it occasionally has a problem where it makes everyone sick for, say, 12 hours. Would people be wrong to decide “I’m not going to take that free water anymore. I’ll go buy water.” And that’s even assuming that the only water available requires payment. That’s not true in the browser world. You want a browser without privacy issues? You can get Chromium. You can get one of the privacy-focused browsers based on Chromium. You get one of the privacy focused browsers that uses Firefox’s engine, but doesn’t have signed extensions. The choices are huge. But, even if Chrome and Edge were your only other choices, the argument is just ridiculous. No one genuinely believes that you can’t criticize things that are free. This message board is free, yet people (including **Magiver** ) will complain about it. My post right now is free for you to read. Does that mean you won’t argue with it, or even decide to ignore me? It’s just such a dumb argument that is only trotted out when it gives you a way to go after others. Hell, since reading their complaints was free for you, it’s inherently self-contradictory. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/47 "2019-05-04T21:37:05Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > If you feel wronged then ask for a refund of your purchase price from Firefox and Adblock. There’s a reason that all browsers are free, including those from money-grubbing commercial interests like Microsoft. And the reason is that building a dependency on a particular technology or service is a very powerful factor in controlling the customer and their decision-making. Dependency is very powerful, and completely obliterates any consideration of whether the original product or service was “free”. Gmail is free, too. I wonder how **Magiver** or **black rabbit** would feel if Gmail fucked up and failed to deliver a critical email that ultimately resulted in the loss of a huge and vital business contract, and perhaps the bankruptcy of their business. Would they say, “oh, well, it was a free service, so who cares?” Perhaps one could try to argue that they should have used Gmail’s commercial service. But that runs on exactly the same infrastructure, with added amenities, and IIRC costs something like $5 a month per user. So I’d rephrase my question and ask, what if **Magiver** lost a million-dollar contract because Gmail’s commercial service fucked up and lost a critical email? According to **Magiver** ’s reasoning, he would ask for his $5 back, and call it good. :rolleyes: Moral: When you’re dominant in a market where millions of people regularly use and depend on your product or service, you have a concomitant responsibility to make sure that it works and that you meet your customers’ expectations, regardless of whether you choose to operate for-profit, not-for-profit, or by any other model. If you don’t, you’re not doing a public service, even if it’s free; you’re a public hazard. I’m not suggesting that Mozilla deserves to be excessively dumped on for this, because mistakes happen, and they worked hard to fix it. I’m just saying that **Magiver** ’s rationalization is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/48 "2019-05-04T21:53:41Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > There’s a reason that all browsers are free, including those from money-grubbing commercial interests like Microsoft. And the reason is that building a dependency on a particular technology or service is a very powerful factor in controlling the customer and their decision-making. Dependency is very powerful, and completely obliterates any consideration of whether the original product or service was “free”. > > Gmail is free, too. I wonder how **Magiver** or **black rabbit** would feel if Gmail fucked up and failed to deliver a critical email that ultimately resulted in the loss of a huge and vital business contract, and perhaps the bankruptcy of their business. . I pay for my email software for home use as does the company I work for. Any business that relies on free software gets what they pay for. But go ahead and run your pie hole. We agree it’s worth the money I paid to read it on this website. The difference is that I don’t complain about SDMB’s services. Go figure. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/49 "2019-05-04T22:07:06Z")
I pay for my email software, too. Microsoft Outlook. But the email _ **service** _ it connects to is free. Your arguments are so worthless you can’t even get the basic terminology right. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/50 "2019-05-04T22:15:08Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > It was a glitch. It’s already fixed. If your browser hasn’t upgraded itself then you can force it to update. Then shut it down and open it again. Is it? It happened to me just now. I got a message on the browser that my extensions were disabled. I did a quick search, found out it was a bug, shut down Firefox and started Chrome. Thanks for the info. I’ll try Firefox again. . . . A couple minutes later. Nope, I couldn’t figure it out. Firefox says that it’s up to date. I couldn’t get it to update. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/51 "2019-05-04T22:38:52Z")
Yeah, it’s not fully fixed for me. I have two annoying symptoms: 1. If i close all browser windows, then after a few seconds open up firefox, I have a roughly 50/50 chance if my extensions will work or not. If they do not, I can either do the above posted work-around, or just keep closing and re-opening until it miracles into working. 2. The SDMB serves up the crappy mobile theme instead of the good desktop theme every time I navigate to a different SDMB page. Having to scroll to the bottom and switch back to “Not Shitty” for every single page view on the SDMB is pretty irritating. They said we didn’t have to do anything for the fix. Well, I’d kinda like to, as this fix is less than impressive. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/52 "2019-05-04T22:47:02Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I pay for my email software, too. Microsoft Outlook. But the email _ **service** _ it connects to is free. Your arguments are so worthless you can’t even get the basic terminology right. My internet email is from the company I pay for internet service. So… I have a financial interest in the entire process. If you’re getting stuff free and it doesn’t live up to your expectations to the point you need to vent then take the money you’re saving and invest in the mental health industry. Or go to a free clinic. Your choice. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/53 "2019-05-04T22:58:34Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Is it? It happened to me just now. I got a message on the browser that my extensions were disabled. I did a quick search, found out it was a bug, shut down Firefox and started Chrome. > > Thanks for the info. I’ll try Firefox again. > > . . . A couple minutes later. Nope, I couldn’t figure it out. Firefox says that it’s up to date. I couldn’t get it to update. It’s not being pushed out as an update to the browser. It’s being pushed out as part of the “Studies” program which are like optional experimental hot fixes that get pushed out to those who opt in. And you can’t proactively update Studies. It’ll get to you when it gets to you. Mozilla said it could take hours to get to everyone. So hopefully it’ll be fixed for you eventually. Assuming their fix actually works. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/54 "2019-05-04T23:15:23Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Mozilla said it could take hours to get to everyone. So hopefully it’ll be fixed for you eventually. Assuming their fix actually works. Thanks! Much appreciated. [insert smilie here] I hadn’t realized how much work it takes to use a new browser. No bookmarks. No style changes. No custom changes already done. No emoticons without reconfiguring. It’s the smallest of first world problems. But sigh. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/55 "2019-05-04T23:20:12Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > My internet email is from the company I pay for internet service. So… I have a financial interest in the entire process. > > If you’re getting stuff free and it doesn’t live up to your expectations to the point you need to vent then take the money you’re saving and invest in the mental health industry. > > Or go to a free clinic. Your choice. If your email service (which is not what you said the first time) is bundled with your Internet service, then (a) it’s impossible for you to quantify any specific value for it, (b) any such value wouldn’t hold a candle to the potential liability for unreliable service, so it’s irrelevant anyway, and (c) most such bundled email services are exactly the same as the free ones – for instance, many ISPs just outsource to Yahoo, and commercial Gmail is the same infrastructure as free Gmail. I now recall that you occasionally appear in political discussions in the capacity of a right-wing nutjob, so that explains your position that businesses should have absolutely zero accountability to the public they serve, which is a typical right-wing nutjob position. If mental health therapy is needed here, it’s your need that is dire. I hope you have private employer-paid or personally paid health insurance to pay for it, and not that socialist free health care that I get, which is obviously worthless according to your right-wing nutjob teachings. And now, I’m done with this hijack. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/56 "2019-05-04T23:25:46Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > It’s not being pushed out as an update to the browser. It’s being pushed out as part of the “Studies” program which are like optional experimental hot fixes that get pushed out to those who opt in. And you can’t proactively update Studies. It’ll get to you when it gets to you. I did not have studies enabled, and just now went to enable it but I don’t like it being active (I don’t want any data collection from my browsing) and I don’t want to wait hours. So I held my nose and clicked a direct link to “the fix” (which is, I guess, an add-on?) and that appears to have fixed my add-ons. Direct link to fix, spoilered to protect from accidental clickiing: [hotfix-update-xpi-intermediate%40mozilla.com-1.0.2-signed.xpi](https://storage.googleapis.com/moz-fx-normandy-prod-addons/extensions/hotfix-update-xpi-intermediate%40mozilla.com-1.0.2-signed.xpi) I clicked this and crossed my fingers. It said “Firefox has blocked this. Allow?” and I allowed it, and then it appears to have worked. I then promptly disabled Studies. If anyone tries it and it causes problems, we can ask a mod to remove the link. The above link was presented in the [comments on mozilla’s blog](https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2019/05/04/update-regarding-add-ons-in-firefox/). Search for “Samuel Vuorela” (he posted it.) He specifically says you don’t need to enable Studies for it to work. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/57 "2019-05-04T23:27:33Z")
For those of you who aren’t invested in shitting on the efforts of the open source community, here’s an actual link to the fix: > **[Add-ons disabled or failing to install in Firefox](https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2019/05/04/update-regarding-add-ons-in-firefox/)** > > Incident summary Updates - Last updated 14:35 PST May 14, 2019. We expect this to be our final update. If you are running ... You may have to un-check and the re-check “Allow Firefox to run an install studies” box to force it. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/58 "2019-05-04T23:40:36Z")
> [@black\_rabbit](#): > > For those of you who aren’t invested in shitting on the efforts of the open source community, here’s an actual link to the fix: > > [Add-ons disabled or failing to install in Firefox - Mozilla Add-ons Community Blog](https://blog.mozilla.org/addons/2019/05/04/update-regarding-add-ons-in-firefox/) > > You may have to un-check and the re-check “Allow Firefox to run an install studies” box to force it. That’s a link to the instructions on how to enable Studies. Once you enable Studies, it will be an unknown amount of time before you’ll get the study with the fix. Maybe a couple hours. One of the top comments on that link is the one I posted in the previous post. It’s a direct link to the actual hotfix, no Studies needed, no waiting. EDIT: On preview, yeah, to clarify, the fix only works for the desktop version. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/59 "2019-05-04T23:40:36Z")
What would be great is if there was a specific link to a fix for the Android version, since those seem to be having the most problems, and don’t have the “studies” option. The only saving grace is that Android versions should be able to set the “xpinstall.signatures.required” switch to “false” as a temporary workaround. And BTW, I don’t see anyone here “shitting on” the open source community, which is one that I have a good deal of respect for. What I see is frustration with a major organization – one that millions of people have been relying on – that made a stupid blunder. ---
**Author:** ![black\_rabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/60 "2019-05-04T23:46:17Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > That’s a link to the instructions on how to enable Studies. Once you enable Studies, it will be an unknown amount of time before you’ll get the study with the fix. Maybe a couple hours. > > One of the top comments on that link is the one I posted in the previous post. It’s a direct link to the actual hotfix, no Studies needed, no waiting. > > EDIT: On preview, yeah, to clarify, the fix only works for the desktop version. I had studies enabled, but didn’t get the fix for 7+ hours after it was released. I re-checked the box, and voila. My assumption is that re-checking the box causes Firefox to phone home, at which point the new study is served up immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/61 "2019-05-04T23:48:38Z")
I figured my browser just crashed last night, as FF is SO dependable and NOT a resource hog /s. I closed and reloaded and like… it was all gone. All my tweaks and customization, my ublock, my persona theme. Thankfully I did come across the Reddit thread pretty fast so I knew it wasn’t me and spend too much time trying to fix the unfixable. It came back up eventually today but I’m just … ugh. I was an early adopter for me, not a heavy tech person. 2003 seems like too early but maybe it was then. Each update breaks something or makes it run worse. I will use Edge and Chrome from time to time but I liked using something a little less common and what used to be very customizable. Sigh. I know I should try out Pale Moon or something else, but I won’t and I’ll be back here the next time it breaks to shake my fist. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455/62 "2019-05-05T00:10:52Z")
> [@black\_rabbit](#): > > I had studies enabled, but didn’t get the fix for 7+ hours after it was released. I re-checked the box, and voila. > > My assumption is that re-checking the box causes Firefox to phone home, at which point the new study is served up immediately. Possibly. I don’t normally have studies enabled. I enabled it, and nothing happened. I closed and re-opened the browser. I went to different pages. Nada. After 10 minutes or so I used the direct link and it worked. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefox-you-piece-of-shit/833455.md?page=4)