Just noticed, I also can’t insert emojis very easily. Clicking on one from the emoji palette doesn’t work. Typing : and the first few characters of the name, then picking one from the pop-up menu does work.
These are a lot of very basic functions that are broken now.
I sympathize, but this is the nature of today’s digital technology. I was in the same boat when my main desktop computer, running Windows XP on Pentium hardware, started to become problematic. Part of the problem was its inability to support essential new software features like newer versions of the .NET framework and newer root security certificates. But it was also just the speed. In their wisdom, websites like CNN “improved” their interfaces to the point they were were so slow they were virtually unusable. Google Maps was equally unusable after they made “improvements”.
In my case the problem was solved when the power supply blew up, and because of the age of the computer, no compatible replacement was available. So I bit the bullet and got a really fast quad i7 with Windows 7 and all has been well.
With regard to Discourse, I remember reading some time ago a statement from them saying that their priority (I’m paraphrasing from memory here) was to “create a platform for the future” and not a platform for the past. As such, they’ve shown an exceptional amount of disdain for the principle of backward compatibility, and have been exceptionally aggressive about disabling older browsers.
I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I appreciate their active development and support, as opposed to the old platform we had that had been static for decades and eventually started falling apart. On the other hand, there is some value in embracing backward compatibility and recognizing that some of us do have older software and older devices.
I’ve upgraded my Windows version of Firefox so that Discourse works again, and it all basically works, but I noticed that earlier today it hung (“Firefox is not responding”) which had never happened before. Also, on my tablet, a few months ago I got the message from Discourse while browsing the SDMB with my Android Firefox that “this browser is too old”, and my login was disabled. I upgraded the browser, and Discourse worked again. But (a) a whole bunch of other things are now broken elsewhere, and (b) I don’t like the new interface.
I wish these young kids who run the world these days would be more conscientous about backward compatibility, something that used to be considered important in software engineering.
Huh. Maybe this should be moved to the Pit Mini-Rants thread. 
Well shit. I just noticed that multi-quoting is also broken.
Yes, I too remember reading about their philosophy of contempt for backward-compatibility. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, because it seemed obvious that the most basic of browser functions would always work.
Wrong.
That should have been a major big-time red flag when TPTB were scouting for a new platform for this board. It should have been a deal-breaker.
Possibly not a bad idea, for what good this thread will do. One more update like this, and I might not be able to post anything on this board ever again. I may have to find some other board, on an older platform, to post my rants there.
I suppose I should say my good-byes to the People of the Dope right here, just in case, just in case a day soon comes, unannounced, that I can’t post here any more.
What model MacBook are you using, and exactly which version of MacOS and your browser are you using?
I just wish to eliminate the possibility that you can update anything.
Some system information, with some redactions:
Hardware Overview:
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,2
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.66 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 6 MB
Memory: 8 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP52.008E.B05
SMC Version (system): 1.42f4
Serial Number (system): xxxxxxxxxxx
Hardware UUID: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State: Enabled
System Software Overview:
System Version: OS X 10.9.5 (13F1911)
Kernel Version: Darwin 13.4.0
Boot Volume: Untitled
Boot Mode: Normal
Computer Name: xxxxxxxxxxx’s MacBook Pro
User Name: xxxx xxxxxx (xxxxxxxxxx)
Secure Virtual Memory: Enabled
Time since boot: 11:08
Firefox Browser: 78.15.0esr
(Strangely, it also says this is “up to date”, which I’m sure it is not.)
I always worry that updating will result in a new install that doesn’t work, with no way to revert to the prior install – especially when updating to a newer release on an older machine, where who knows what will work. This seems to be the same problem that the Discourse developers have.
ETA: This is also a hand-me-down mochine. I’m not sure that I have the necessary system password (or whatever permissions I might need) to do the update.
Based on my research, it does seem like you have a 2009 MacBook Pro and could upgrade your OS to 10.11.6, aka macOS El Capitan. The latest version of standard Chrome would run perfectly fine on that.
However, given the issues you would have with upgrading your OS, there is another option that might work for you called Chromium Legacy. It is a version of Chromium (what Chrome is based on) that has been compiled for older versions of macOS, including your version (Mavericks).
Here is the main page for it, and here is the Release that is recommended to install:
That version should run just fine on your current OS. So I’d recommend trying it.
It is the nature of the industry that a device is essentially obsolete after around 5 years. After about 10 years, it might be largely unusable.
That’s just how things are. I’ve been doing IT as a professional for decades, starting at sales and working my way through system and network support.
Eventually you have to no longer blame the recipe and admit that the milk is spoiled. 